It's Not Them. It Couldn't Be Them. It Is Them! Explained

It's Not Them. It Couldn't Be Them. It Is Them!
Type:studio
Artist:Guided by Voices
Cover:Guided by Voices - It's Not Them. It Couldn't Be Them. It Is Them!.jpg
Alt:A black and white photo of a man pointing to the sky with one hand and holding a bottle with the other
Recorded:2021
Language:English
Label:Guided by Voices, Inc.
Producer:Travis Harrison
Prev Title:Earth Man Blues
Prev Year:2021
Next Title:Crystal Nuns Cathedral
Next Year:2022

It's Not Them. It Couldn't Be Them. It Is Them! is the 34th studio album by American indie rock band Guided by Voices, released on October 22, 2021. It has received positive reviews from critics.

Reception

It's Not Them. It Couldn't Be Them. It Is Them! received positive reviews from critics noted at review aggregator Metacritic. It has a weighted average score of 80 out of 100, based on four reviews. Editors at AllMusic rated this album 4 out of 5 stars and named it the Best of 2021, with critic Mark Deming writing that the music is reminiscent of Herb Alpert and Arthur Lee and characterizing this work as "excellent" and "superior work from a great rock band". In Mojo, this release received 4 out of 5 stars, with critic James McNair praising Robert Pollard's ability to combine various music genres. Paul Rowe of PopMatters characterizes this release as "a surprising [album] chock-full of bizarre, unpredictable moves and power-pop rippers that keep listeners guessing along the way", rating it 8 out of 10. A 7 out of 10 came from Uncuts Jim Wirth who notes that while the band's "base template" remains the same, many songs have different musical instruments or genres to ensure that the music is "never indifferent, never quite the same".

Track listing

All songs written by Robert Pollard.

  1. "Spanish Coin" – 3:20
  2. "High in the Rain" – 3:39
  3. "Dance of Gurus" – 2:37
  4. "Flying Without a License" – 2:47
  5. "Psycho House" – 2:47
  6. "Maintenance Man of the Haunted House" – 2:43
  7. "I Share a Rhythm" – 2:02
  8. "Razor Bug" – 1:06
  9. "I Wanna Monkey" – 2:49
  10. "Cherub and the Great Child Actor" – 2:06
  11. "Black and White Eyes in a Prism" – 4:39
  12. "People Need Holes" – 2:43
  13. "The Bell Gets Out of the Way" – 2:27
  14. "Chain Gang Island" – 3:51
  15. "My (Limited) Engagement" – 2:06

Personnel

Guided by Voices

Additional personnel

See also

External links