- Record Label: Guided by Voices
- Release Date: Aug 11, 2017
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MagnetAug 15, 2017With its simple riff and typically anthemic chorus, the immediately indelible "The Birthday Democrats" amply proves that Pollard's unprecedented creative spark shows no signs of going dark. The rest of How Do You Spell Heaven confirms that notion. [No. 145, p.55]
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Sep 14, 2017How Do You Spell Heaven channels GBV of old.
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Aug 11, 2017How Do You Spell Heaven is one of the best and smartest rock albums Guided by Voices have given us since Isolation Drills, and this music confirms Pollard is no dummy when it comes to putting together a band.
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Aug 11, 2017On top of polishing up the band’s sound, Guided by Voices’ TVT releases also showcased a newfound clarity and emotional candor in Pollard’s often obtuse, fantastical lyrics, and How Do You Spell Heaven gamely follows suit.
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Aug 11, 2017How Do You Spell Heaven suffers from having a tad too much of Pollard’s lone influence, and as a result, it’s overloaded with the kind of mid-tempo filler that takes a few listens to really stand out. Even still, it’s a uniformly enjoyable listen, one that’s mostly upbeat.
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MojoSep 27, 2017Business as usual: expansive, often magical, raw rock'n'roll classicism. [Nov 2017, p.103]
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Aug 11, 2017The cut-and-paste bursts here are beautiful, but they're few and far between.
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Aug 11, 2017There’s nothing wrong whatsoever with How Do You Spell Heaven, it’s just that Pollard works best when walking the wire between fucked-up weirdness and acts of songwriting genius, and wobbling either side. Here he’s looking towards neither heaven nor hell; simply trudging (albeit stylishly) on terra firma.