To tell you the truth, I like unfocused albums, but this one seems more focused. The structures are more cohesive. It also has a nice balance of the genres in rock that I like. Some nice power pop songs but also some fairly crazy stuff. A good balance, emotionally, of heavy and light.
Strut of Kings is the fortieth studio album by American indie rock band Guided by Voices, released on June 28, 2024, through Rockathon Records and their own Guided by Voices, Inc. label. It has received positive reviews from critics and was preceded by the singles "Serene King" and "Cavemen Running Naked".
According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Strut of Kings received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 78 out of 100 from 4 critic scores.[3] Editors at AllMusic rated this album 3.5 out of 5 stars, with critic Mark Deming writing that the songwriting displays Robert Pollard's interest in progressive rock "with stately melodies, big guitars, arrangements that make the most of dynamics, and drumming that milks the drama for all its worth".[4] At BrooklynVegan, Bill Pearis stated that this album continues the band's hot streak since reforming in 2017 and that this album has "indie rock earworms" and "gloriously titled fist-pumpers".[6]Exclaim!'s Daniel Sylvester scored Strut of Kings a 6 out of 10, critiquing that songs are stretched too thin with filler, but continued that "the core of many of these numbers are incredibly strong and tight".[5] This was album of the week at Louder Than War, where Nathan Whittle gave it 4 out of 5 and wrote that this music has the "ability to turn on a sixpence, to jump from their earlier alt/rock spark to moments that breath with more space and drop down into plaintive spaces that keeps your ear to their furtile ground".[7] Stevie Chick of Mojo gave this album 4 out of 5 stars, writing that "Pollard sounds more curious and engaged here than on some recent releases, and the result is the most compelling GBV of their third act".[8] Online retailer Qobuz included this among the five best rock albums of the month, stating that it "is packed with anthems-in-waiting replete with big, hooky choruses and powerful, crunching guitars".[9] In Uncut, Daniel Wray called this album "a pleasing yet ever-shifting journey to be taken on" and scored it an 8 out of 10.[10]
