Swimmer to a Liquid Armchair by Ricked Wicky

I’ve never been a Robert Pollard fan, in any form. I know there are fervent Guided by Voices fans out there that will feel it’s heretical to deride anything the man has done, so I’m going to clarify: I don’t dislike his music. I just never tried. And he’s so prolific, I never found the right on-ramp to the vast Pollard interstate highway system.

Until now. It took Pollard breaking up GBV for a second time (first in 2004, and again in 2014, perhaps for good this time?) for me to take notice. His new project is called Ricked Wicky, and from what I can tell, there’s not much that distinguishes this band from any of his previous, other than the fact they have one more fan: me.

Ricked Wicky came to my attention thanks to the video above, for the great rock-pop song “Poor Substitute.” When I went looking for the album it came from, I discovered that Swimmer to a Liquid Armchair was actually the third release from Ricked Wicky this year. Pollard is truly the most prolific man in rock & roll. I think Swimmer is the best of the three releases, but you could easily pick up I Sell The Circus or King Heavy Metal and feel they rise to the top of the heap.

While I’ve never been a Pollard fan before now, I’ve been a fan of his style of music for a very long time. Ricked Wicky is what 4-part rock and roll should be. It sounds so much like the Long Winters that I know and love, when I first heard “Poor Substitute,” I had to make sure it wasn’t John Roderick singing. You’d think writing so many songs so quickly would diminish the quality over all, but you’d be wrong. These albums are solid, front to back. I suggest you pick one or all of them up immediately.

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31. High by Royal Headache

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