Indie/Alternative charts

Review: Robert Pollard's output is still a marvel to behold in the annals of US indie rock. As the driving force behind Guided By Voices and a tangled labyrinth of other projects, he's released more music than any one person can surely keep up with. That said, such is the power of his songwriting, a one-off single can be as much of a gem as, for example, the recently released Crystal Nuns Cathedral or Earth Man Blues albums. If you're a fan of GBV then you should know what to expect to some extent, but that doesn't diminish the grandeur of both 'Alex Bell' and the B-side, 'Focus On The Flock'.

Review: Sandbox is the 1987 sophomore opus by Ohio rock n' rollers Guided By Voices, noted for its contrasting style and appearance to ther debut Devil In My Toes. This new version is a legit repress from the band's original label Scat Records, driving home the band's characteristically rollicking hard rock sound yet also throwing many a curveball, such as quoting the Beatles and some proud, accented singing.

Review: According to Guided By Voices frontman Robert Pollard, Same Place the Fly Got Smashed is at the apex of the band's creative output. In the James Greer Biography, Guided By Voices: A Brief History: Twenty One Years of Hunting Accidents In the Forests of Rock and Roll he says this record has some of his all-time favourite songs on it, and 'Pendulum' is home to his finest lyrics. Originally released in 1990, the fourth studio album from Guided By Voices is certainly potent stuff. The opening sample tells us to "get ready for excitement and adventure", then the raw mood of 'Airshow '88''s riff marks the beginning of an epic journey. From the muscular 'Order For The New Slave Trade', to the tender acoustic heartbreak on 'When She Turns 50', the gritty hypnosis invoked by 'Ambergris', and psychedelic folk-pop on 'How Loft I Am?', resistance remains impossible, 34 years on.