La La Land (Guided by Voices album) explained

La La Land
Type:studio
Artist:Guided by Voices
Cover:Guided by Voices - La La Land.jpg
Alt:A surrealist painting of a human body with exposed muscle walking along a landscape
Recorded:2022
Studio:Magic Door, Montclair, New Jersey, United States
Language:English
Label:Guided by Voices, Inc.
Producer:Travis Harrison
Prev Title:Scalping the Guru
Prev Year:2022
Next Title:Welshpool Frillies
Next Year:2023

La La Land is the 37th studio album by American indie rock band Guided by Voices, released on January 20, 2023. The release has received positive reviews from critics and was preceded by the single "Instinct Dwelling".

Reception

La La Land received positive reviews from critics noted at review aggregator Metacritic. It has a weighted average score of 77 out of 100, based on seven reviews.

Editors at AllMusic Guide rated this album 4 out of 5 stars, with critic Fred Thomas writing that this album "is a continuation of Tremblers and Goggles by Ranks expansive construction, moving further away from the patented short, sharp pop that GbV made their name on in the '90s and opting for relatively longer song lengths, more complex song structures, and a generally more angular side of the band". Writing for PopMatters, John Garratt ratred La La Land a 7 out of 10, writing that it "represent[s] a significant step in Pollard's songwriting" and that the music is "paradoxically becoming more streamlined while simultaneously branching out". Fred Barrett of Slant Magazine compares this music to art punk and sums up his 4.5 out of 5 star review "not only does the band's output remain as inexhaustible and freewheeling as ever, the album stands as some of their best late-career work". In Uncut, Peter Watts rated La La Land 4 out of 5 stars, also noting similarities with Tremblers and Goggles by Rank and praising frontman Robert Pollard's "ability to write a song about almost anything, taking a melody or concept and running with it, and then doing it again, and again, and again, over and over, with spirit-raising results". Under the Radars Ian Rushbury gave this album 6 out of 10 stars, critiquing, "there's enough old school GBV tunes... to keep the hardcore happy, but a few tunes here really push the envelope".

This was included in BrooklynVegans listing of 33 great albums from indie/alternative legends, along with Nowhere to Go but Up.

Track listing

All songs written by Robert Pollard

  1. "Another Day to Heal" – 1:49
  2. "Released into Dementia" – 2:19
  3. "Ballroom Etiquette" – 2:48
  4. "Instinct Dwelling" – 2:47
  5. "Queen of Spaces" – 3:01
  6. "Slowly on the Wheel" – 6:00
  7. "Cousin Jackie" – 4:02
  8. "Wild Kingdom" – 3:21
  9. "Caution Song" – 2:18
  10. "Face Eraser" – 2:51
  11. "Pockets" – 3:49

Personnel

Guided by Voices

Additional personnel

See also

External links