ROBERT POLLARD
ROBERT POLLARD IS OFF TO BUSINESS
GUIDED BY VOICES INC

SPIN - JULY 2008
BY SHANNON ZIMMEMAN

3.5 Stars

Indie-rock boss names himself first employee of the month.

If it's Tuesday, it must be time for another Robert Pollard record. The twist with his latest -- the man's third long-player in less than a year -- is that it appears on Pollard's own Guided By Voices Inc. imprint. But despite the invocation of those crusty legends, Business is no lo-fi throwback. "The Blondes" opens with elegantly strummed acoustic guitar before shifting to regal, synth-backed verses and precisely played lead lines. And if the wah-wah riff that powers the crunchy "Gratification to Concrete" sounds like an indie in-joke, the track's ecstatic chorus legitimately conjures ELO at their high-gloss best.