Indie-rock veterans Guided By Voices have claimed that rumors of their demise are greatly exaggerated, pointing to a forthcoming record as proof.
The prolific Ohio outfit became the center of rumor on Monday (May 19) when a new episode of Lou Barlow’s RAW Impressions podcast unintentionally broke the news. In the latest episode, Lou spoke to Guided By Voices guitarist Bobby Bare Jr. with his wife Adelle, who admitted to having never seen the group live.
In response, Bare noted, “We’re breaking up, you never will.” After Lou adds “You never will, they’re done,” Bare seemingly confirmed the band’s status by adding “We’re never going to play again.”
However, the apparent revelation may have been a case of miscommunication due to technology, with the episode’s description on YouTube noting that it was “loaded with technical difficulties,” and that “the audio is often breaking up.”
Following the news apparently breaking, the episode’s hosts spoke to Brooklyn Vegan to clarify their own thoughts on the matter. “My understanding is that they didn’t have plans to play more live shows,” Adelle explained. “But I think they are still recording! Not broken up. And yea, I had a lot of technical difficulties during the podcast episode.”
Lou echoed this by adding that the group were in the process of making a new record, though he understood that there were to be “no more live shows.”
In the wake of the rumor mill going into overdrive, a representative for Guided By Voices spoke to Rolling Stone to deny that the band were splitting, and even noted that a new album called Thick Rich and Delicious would be arriving on Halloween. Currently, the band have not shared any further information on the upcoming record.
News of a breakup announcement from Guided By Voices wouldn’t be entirely unexpected, however. Having first formed in 1983, the Robert Pollard-led outfit released a total of 15 albums before splitting in 2004 – including their highest-charting release, 2002’s Universal Truths and Cycles, which hit No. 160 on the Billboard 200 and No. 3 on the Heatseekers charts.
After reforming in 2010, a further six albums followed before another split in 2014. Since reforming again in 2016, the group have been immensely prolific, with 19 albums arriving in the past nine years, including February’s Universe Room. Pollard will also release the debut album from his Rip Van Winkle side-project this year, with Blasphemy set to arrive in July.
Giving credence to Bare’s claims about not playing live again, however, Guided By Voices have not performed since an October 2024 show in Dallas, with reviews of that show reporting Pollard had claimed it was to be their final gig. Indeed, no further live dates are listed on their website at the current time.
