Strut of Kings
Strut of Kings | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Studio album by Guided by Voices | ||||
Released | June 28, 2024 (2024-06-28) | |||
Genre |
| |||
Length | 35:39 | |||
Label |
| |||
Producer | Travis Harrison | |||
Guided by Voices chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Strut of Kings | ||||
| ||||
To tell you the truth, I like unfocused albums, but this one seems more focused. The structures are more cohesive. It also has a nice balance of the genres in rock that I like. Some nice power pop songs but also some fairly crazy stuff. A good balance, emotionally, of heavy and light.
—Vocalist and songwriter Robert Pollard on how Strut of Kings fits into Guided by Voices' catalog.[1]
Strut of Kings is the fortieth studio album by American indie rock band Guided by Voices, released on June 28, 2024, through Rockathon Records and their own Guided by Voices, Inc. label. It has received positive reviews from critics and was preceded by the singles "Serene King" and "Cavemen Running Naked".
Reception
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 78/100[3] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Exclaim! | 6/10[5] |
According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Strut of Kings received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 78 out of 100 from 4 critic scores.[3] Editors at AllMusic rated this album 3.5 out of 5 stars, with critic Mark Deming writing that the songwriting displays Robert Pollard's interest in progressive rock "with stately melodies, big guitars, arrangements that make the most of dynamics, and drumming that milks the drama for all its worth".[4] At BrooklynVegan, Bill Pearis stated that this album continues the band's hot streak since reforming in 2017 and that this album has "indie rock earworms" and "gloriously titled fist-pumpers".[6] Exclaim!'s Daniel Sylvester scored Strut of Kings a 6 out of 10, critiquing that songs are stretched too thin with filler, but continued that "the core of many of these numbers are incredibly strong and tight".[5] This was album of the week at Louder Than War, where Nathan Whittle gave it 4 out of 5 and wrote that this music has the "ability to turn on a sixpence, to jump from their earlier alt/rock spark to moments that breath with more space and drop down into plaintive spaces that keeps your ear to their furtile ground".[7] Stevie Chick of Mojo gave this album 4 out of 5 stars, writing that "Pollard sounds more curious and engaged here than on some recent releases, and the result is the most compelling GBV of their third act".[8] Online retailer Qobuz included this among the five best rock albums of the month, stating that it "is packed with anthems-in-waiting replete with big, hooky choruses and powerful, crunching guitars".[9] In Uncut, Daniel Wray called this album "a pleasing yet ever-shifting journey to be taken on" and scored it an 8 out of 10.[10]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Robert Pollard.
- "Show Me the Castle" – 4:25
- "Dear Onion" – 1:47
- "This Will Go On" – 2:09
- "Fictional Environment Dream" – 3:55
- "Olympus Cock in Radiana" – 2:50
- "Leaving Umbrella" – 3:36
- "Cavemen Running Naked" – 2:22
- "Timing Voice" – 3:32
- "Bit of a Crunch" – 4:42
- "Serene King" – 3:14
- "Bicycle Garden" – 3:07
Personnel
Guided by Voices
- Bobby Bare Jr. – guitar
- Doug Gillard – guitar, string arrangement
- Kevin March – drums
- Robert Pollard – lead vocals, guitar, artwork, layout, art department
- Mark Shue – bass guitar
Additional personnel
- Travis Harrison – production
- Ray Ketchem – drum recording
- Joe Patterson – layout, art department
- Vince Williams – art department
- Sarah Zade-Pollard – art management
See also
References
- ^ a b DeVille, Chris (April 16, 2024). "Robert Pollard Told Us About Strut of Kings, The Only New Guided by Voices Album of 2024". New Music. Stereogum. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
- ^ Rettig, James (May 15, 2024). "Guided by Voices – "Cavemen Running Naked"". Stereogum. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
- ^ a b "Strut of Kings by Guided by Voices Reviews and Tracks – Metacritic". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. n.d. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
- ^ a b Deming, Mark (n.d.). "Strut of Kings – Guided by Voices". AllMusic. RhythmOne. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
- ^ a b Sylvester, Daniel (June 27, 2024). "Guided by Voices' 'Strut of Kings' Is a Little Wobbly". Exclaim!. ISSN 1207-6600. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
- ^ Pearis, Bill (June 28, 2024). "Album reviews: Folk Implosion, Guided by Voices, Loma, Redd Kross, more". Indie Basement. BrooklynVegan. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
- ^ Whittle, Nathan (July 7, 2024). "Guided By Voices: Strut Of Kings – Album Of The Week". Album Reviews. Louder Than War. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
- ^ Stevie, Chick (August 2024). Bulley, Jenny (ed.). "Filter Albums". Mojo Filter. Mojo. No. 365. p. 82. ISSN 1351-0193.
- ^ Laughlin, Jeff; Hong, Sujan; Viraporn, Nitha (July 8, 2024). "The Qobuz Guide to June 2024". Music News. Qobuz. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
- ^ Wray, Dylan (July 2024). "New Albums". Uncut. p. 35. ISSN 1368-0722.
External links
- Entry in the Guided by Voices Database
- Strut of Kings at Discogs (list of releases)
- Strut of Kings at MusicBrainz (list of releases)
- v
- t
- e
- Robert Pollard
- Doug Gillard
- Mark Shue
- Bobby Bare Jr.
- Kevin March
- Tobin Sprout
- Mitch Mitchell
- Greg Demos
- Kevin Fennell
- Jim Macpherson
- James Greer
- Devil Between My Toes (1987)
- Sandbox (1987)
- Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia (1989)
- Same Place the Fly Got Smashed (1990)
- Propeller (1992)
- Vampire on Titus (1993)
- Bee Thousand (1994)
- Alien Lanes (1995)
- Under the Bushes Under the Stars (1996)
- Tonics & Twisted Chasers (1996)
- Mag Earwhig! (1997)
- Do the Collapse (1999)
- Isolation Drills (2001)
- Universal Truths and Cycles (2002)
- Earthquake Glue (2003)
- Half Smiles of the Decomposed (2004)
- Let's Go Eat the Factory (2012)
- Class Clown Spots a UFO (2012)
- The Bears for Lunch (2012)
- English Little League (2013)
- Motivational Jumpsuit (2014)
- Cool Planet (2014)
- Please Be Honest (2016)
- August by Cake (2017)
- How Do You Spell Heaven (2017)
- Space Gun (2018)
- Zeppelin Over China (2019)
- Warp and Woof (2019)
- Sweating the Plague (2019)
- Surrender Your Poppy Field (2020)
- Mirrored Aztec (2020)
- Styles We Paid For (2020)
- Earth Man Blues (2021)
- It's Not Them. It Couldn't Be Them. It Is Them! (2021)
- Crystal Nuns Cathedral (2022)
- Tremblers and Goggles by Rank (2022)
- La La Land (2023)
- Welshpool Frillies (2023)
- Nowhere to Go but Up (2023)
- Strut of Kings (2024)
- Forever Since Breakfast (1986)
- The Grand Hour (1993)
- Static Airplane Jive (1993)
- Get Out of My Stations (1994)
- Fast Japanese Spin Cycle (1994)
- Clown Prince of the Menthol Trailer (1994)
- I Am a Scientist (1994)
- Tigerbomb (1995)
- Sunfish Holy Breakfast (1996)
- Plantations of Pale Pink (1996)
- Wish in One Hand… (1997)
- Plugs for the Program (1999)
- Hold on Hope (2000)
- Dayton, Ohio–19 Something and 5 (2000)
- Daredevil Stamp Collector (2001)
- The Pipe Dreams of Instant Prince Whippet (2002)
- Down by the Racetrack (2013)
- Wine Cork Stonehenge (2018)
- 100 Dougs (2018)
- 1901 Acid Rock (2019)
- Umlaut Over the Ozone (2019)
- Live from Austin, TX (2007)
- The Best of Guided by Voices: Human Amusements at Hourly Rates (2003)
- Crickets: Best of the Fading Captain Series 1999–2007 (2007)
- Scalping the Guru (2022)
- Box (1995)
- Suitcase: Failed Experiments and Trashed Aircraft (2000)
- Hardcore UFOs: Revelations, Epiphanies and Fast Food in the Western Hemisphere (2003)
- Suitcase 2: American Superdream Wow (2005)
- Suitcase 3: Up We Go Now (2009)
- Suitcase 4: Captain Kangaroo Won the War (2015)
solo albums
- Not in My Airforce (1996)
- Waved Out (1998)
- Kid Marine (1999)
- Motel of Fools (2003)
- Fiction Man (2004)
- Relaxation of the Asshole (2005)
- From a Compound Eye (2006)
- Normal Happiness (2006)
- Silverfish Trivia (2007)
- Standard Gargoyle Decisions (2007)
- Coast to Coast Carpet of Love (2007)
- Superman Was a Rocker (2008)
- Weatherman and Skin Goddess (2008)
- Robert Pollard Is Off to Business (2008)
- The Crawling Distance (2009)
- Elephant Jokes (2009)
- We All Got Out of the Army (2010)
- Moses on a Snail (2010)
- Space City Kicks (2011)
- Lord of the Birdcage (2011)
- Mouseman Cloud (2012)
- Jack Sells the Cow (2012)
- Honey Locust Honky Tonk (2013)
- Blazing Gentlemen (2013)
- Faulty Superheroes (2015)
- Of Course You Are (2016)
- Carnival Boy (1996)
- Moonflower Plastic (1997)
- Let's Welcome the Circus People (1999)
- Lost Planets & Phantom Voices (2003)
- The Bluebirds of Happiness Tried to Land on My Shoulder (2010)
- The Universe & Me (2017)
- Tower in the Fountain of Sparks (2001)
- Life Starts Here (2002)
- Brown Submarine (2008)
- The Planets are Blasted (2009)
- Zero to 99 (2009)
- Our Cubehouse Still Rocks (2010)
- Let It Beard (2011)
Doug Gillard albums
- Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Department (1999)
- Mist King Urth (2003)
- Waving at the Astronauts (2011)
- In Shop We Build Electric Chairs: Professional Music by Nightwalker 1984–1993 (1999)
- Big Trouble (2000)
- Choreographed Man of War (2001)
- Calling Zero (2002)
- Blues and Boogie Shoes (2006)
- Ringworm Interiors (2001)
- The Harold Pig Memorial (2002)
- Pinball Mars (2004)
- Five (2005)
- Sgt. Disco (2007)
- Ataxia (2008)
- Gringo (2009)
- Mother Skinny (2010)
- Capsized! (2011)
- When Machines Attack (2013)
- My Mind Has Seen the White Trick (2013)
- Escape (2014)
- Stomping Grounds (2015)
- Laughs Last (2017)