Hear “We Outlast Them All”

You’re never going to believe this, but there’s a new Guided By Voices album on the way. I know we all assumed that they’d said everything they had to say when they released Thick, Rich And Delicious last year. It’s been, what, four months since that one came out? And five days since guitarist Doug Gillard announced his solo album Parallel Stride? I just pictured them with their feet up on the table, toasting to a complete career. But no, the GBV train rolls on.

GBV album number 44 is called Crawlspace Of The Pantheon, and it’s out this spring. Wikipedia claims Thick, Rich And Delicious was album #42, however Stereogum just got word from Bob Pollard himself that the new album is their 44th. The band tracked Crawlspace in the studio together and Pollard tells Rolling Stone that he worked “much more diligently on this set of lyrics.”

Along with the announcement, GBV have a new song called “We Outlast Them All,” and there is no arguing with that title. The track hits all the familiar GBV pleasure centers, but it lasts for nearly four and a half minutes, which means it’s an epic by this band’s standards. Pollard tells RS, “The entire song, the music, and melody was written all the way through in one take. Could be our ‘We Are the Champions,’ but it’s not necessarily about us. It could be about any couple or group of people or organization that perseveres over a long period of time. If it is referring to us, it’s actually somewhat self-deprecating, as the goal is simply to ‘seek to occupy the crawlspace of the pantheon.'” Check it out below.

Crawlspace Of The Pantheon is out 5/29 on Guided By Voices Inc.