Robert Pollard - Honey Locust Honky Tonk [CD]

2013 album from the prolific singer/songwriter and Guided By Voices main man. Honey Locust Honky Tonk is a compact wonder and so varied, tuneful, graceful, magnificent and ebullient that one will be forgiven for thinking that Robert Pollard has saved his best for his own album. Slicker in some ways than recent Guided By Voices efforts, though not without it's own down-home charm, it's 17 songs whiz by in 34 minutes, stridently showcasing Pollard's songwriting mastery with some of the best tunes he's ever penned. The longest, the semi-stately album closer 'Airs,' clocks in at just over three and a half minutes, but most are in the two- or two-and-half-minute range typical of Pollard's attenuating genius. In truth, Pollard never holds anything back, and always seems uncannily able to pull any number of music tricks from his magic sleeve. He's done it again, folks. Honey Locust Honky Tonk is as sweet and as sharp as anything Pollard and friends has ever produced. Bite it and see.