The Shakespeare of indie rock, Robert Pollard once again leads Guided by Voices into an album that is as much a whole work of art as it is individual songs. Guided by Voices' sheer volume of songs is a canon in itself, and more than any one listener can keep up with. Their unique, "rough-around-the-edges meets '60s psychedelic pop meets jagged rock" sound is strung together by rhyming lyrics of Pollard's abstract imagination. Formed in the early '80s, the band has gone through what feels like 50 different members, but has managed to retain a trademark sound throughout their whole library with the help of Matador Records, which proudly leaves them to their own creative devices.

Their latest release, Earthquake Glue, concocted in these masters' Dayton, Ohio, basement, is no breech from their standard. The album's kick-off first track, "My Kind of Soldier," is just the sort of simple, melodic guitar pop that will get you going in the morning, before the album branches off into more experimental, but nonetheless powerful, sounds. The rest of the album switches moods more drastically than the weather, from April showers to May flowers. Slow acoustic tracks will lead into electric power chords, dissonant and noisy guitar and bass, backed by some damn good drums. Listen to Earthquake Glue any time or any place; it's never inappropriate.

For more information, visit www.matadorrecords.com/guided_by_voices. To hear "My Kind of Soldier" off the new reocrd, click here: