The good news here is that the fading captain seems to miss his glory days at the helm of Dayton’s much-loved native sons as much as the rest of us. Brown Submarine happily marks Robert Pollard’s return to the front of a proper band, one which will, in turn, see the singer touring, once again, despite prior promises that he would never again be hitting the road. And, just in case those tidbits weren’t telling enough for interested parties, Boston Spaceships’ has been issued on Pollard’s newly-formed Guided By Voices Records. Of course, those eagerly expecting one of rock’s greatest frontmen to present some carbon copy of past glories are set for a disappointment. There are some glimmers here of GBV’s dynamism, particularly at its poppier, more riff-fueled moments like “Andy Playboy” and “Ready to Pop,” the latter of which finds the singer gleefully proclaiming, “I’m the fucking king / every fucking day.” Even at its most somber, however, one thing seems clear: Pollard is having far more fun than he’s had in a while.
