The new Guided by Voices album is the best thing the band has recorded since the last album by the legendary Dayton, Ohio, rockers. That's not meant facetiously: the last thing Guided by Voices did was the rapturously received Let's Go Eat the Factory, and Class Clown Spots a UFO ups the ante raised by that stellar effort, both in terms of recording fidelity (boring!) and songcraft (not boring!) One could argue there's more depth and variety here than on Alien Lanes, that there are better songs here than on Bee Thousand, but that's an argument no one's ever going to win, at least definitively. And this album is a win, by any definition. Class Clown is classic GBV, starting with the head-body-head combination of "He Rises (Our Union Bellboy)," "Blue Babbleship Bay," and "Forever Until It Breaks" before finishing you off with the title track, a ridiculously catchy, melodically complex, shot-through-with-melancholia song that serves as a sadder and wiser riposte to XTC's "Making Plans for Nigel" as performed by The Hollies. And that's just the first four songs of a 21-track album clocking in at just under 40 minutes. We've yet to get to "Keep It in Motion," a propulsive, drum-machine-driven pop song which features acoustic guitars, strings, and Robert Pollard and Tobin Sprout singing together in a way not heard since "14 Cheerleader Coldfront" on 1992's Propeller. Possibly. Nor have we discussed galvanic rocker "Jon the Croc," a clear single candidate, or "Chain to the Moon," one of the saddest and (why not?) prettiest songs Pollard has ever written. In between, you get wah-wah guitar solos, a wide range of unusual recording techniques of varying fidelity and a generous helping of Alien Lanes-style snippets. In fact, the sequencing of Class Clown hearkens back to that landmark LP-as on Alien Lanes, songs bleed into each other, fade-outs segue into fade-ins, short bursts of melodic rock ("Billy Wire," "Roll of the Dice, Kick in the Head") jut against somber chamber pop ("They and Them," "Starfire"). The last song, the anthemic "No Transmission," if played at the proper volume, will in fact blow your mind (and your windows). Class Clown Spots a UFO arrives in June, and we might as well tell you the band is about to finish their third record since reuniting, because you'll find out sooner or later. Bears for Lunch is due in late November. But for now, enjoy the best thing since the last thing and until the next thing after that.

Brooklyn's beloved guitar-anthem optimists Fang Island return with an album befitting its title : Major. Like the painstakingly chiseled marble of the album artwork, Major is hefty, solid, monolithic and regal. Whereas Fang Island described their celebrated 2010 self-titled Sargent House debut as, "everyone high-fiving everyone," Major is evermore confident, triumphant and brimming with infectious enthusiasm. Its warm harmonies are given proper berth with more expansive dynamics and focused pop song craft. "One of our core ideas has always been that our songs would be all of your favorite parts of the song that other bands make you wait 8 minutes to get to," explains guitarist/vocalist Jason Bartell. "We wanted to be the band that's nothing but your favorite hooks back to back." Major shows Fang Island deftly achieving that aim. Kicking off with the overlapping neoclassical piano pirouette and chiming harmonized guitars of album opener "Kindergarten", Fang Island makes it clear from the outset that this is an album of musical and sonic growth, while at the same time a chorus of voices repeat the mantra, "all I know/ I learned in / kindergarten." It's that same unabashed embracing of childlike wonder filtered through visionary artistic sophistication that gives Fang Island its unique charm and sets the tone for this (ahem) major step forward for Bartell, guitarist/vocalist Chris Georges and drummer Marc St. Sauveur. Without a moment's rest, the definitive summer pop jam "Sisterly" launches the album skyward, led by the thick hook of a wah-wah pedal "chunka-chunka-chunka" riff that's guaranteed to have listeners busting out their air guitar moves. "Never Understand" revisits the classic Fang Island guitar harmony dogpile while what sounds like a cheery mob repeatedly intones, "I hope I never understand." Elsewhere, the rollicking anthem "Asunder" quickly builds momentum like a rolling snowball that eventually careens into a summertime BBQ -- the explosive payoff as the elements collide is pure pop bliss. Throughout, Major highlights the band's endeavor to elevate positivity as an art form. "It's equivalent to writing songs about being sad," Bartell says. "It can be too simplistic. Positive songs are often too shallow, and there are a lot of shades and depths to be explored." That exploration becomes clear from the first notes of Major.

Recorded between the band's Ill Eagle Studio and the ranch studio of labelmate Feist, "Busting Visions" is a sweaty r omp of a record, oozing cool, with fuzzed-out riffs, razor-sharp hooks and harmonies galore.

On September 13th, 2011 San Francisco’s Girls will release their second album and third record Father, Son, Holy Ghost on True Panther Sounds and Turnstile in the UK/Europe. The album comes two years after their debut (Album), and one year after the follow-up EP (Broken Dreams Club).
On the third anniversary of the birth of Girls as a band Christopher Owens and Chet White found themselves entering the studio to begin recording their second album. More a collection of gear than a studio, recording took place in the bowels of a San Francisco office building. The two teamed up with new drummer Darren Weiss and guitarist John Anderson assembling performances and ultimately creating new music and musical relationships to carry the band through its newest incarnation.
Girls have taken what they’ve always done best and have displayed it with amazing clarity and the strongest of intent. Classic songwriting coupled with exciting production is their way. “I’m still all the same,” Owens says. “I still know I have to do it. I still love the songs and writing songs.”
Father. Son, Holy Ghost is at times ebullient and at times absolutely devastating. A truly beautiful record and the perfect amalgamation of a band’s past and present while most importantly leaving us all excited and hungry for their future.

Members: Britt Daniel, Dan Boeckner, Sam Brown