Review: 'Let's Go Eat the Factory'

If the story of Guided by Voices was written by Shakespeare, perhaps the Bard would say this about main voice Robert Pollard's songs: Brevity is the foundation of eloquence. (Yeah, that's not exactly what he wrote, but it fits here.)

At 42 minutes and 34 seconds, "Let's Go Eat the Factory" (GBV Inc.), the first GBV album since 2004, packs in 21 lo-fi nuggets. The building, British-inflected fuzz-fest "How I Met My Mother" leaves you wanting more in a little longer than a minute, while the whimsical "Doughnut for a Snowman" will melt your heart in just 1:44. This is how it's been for decades with GBV -- Pollard pulls you in with his beautifully morose melodies and haiku, and then cuts them short to move on to the next song. That's fine, but when you hear "Chocolate Boy," the album's sweetest, most addicting 1 minute and 31 seconds, you'll hit "replay" for unhealthy amounts of time.

And this time out, Pollard's "classic" mid-'90s lineup of multi-instrumentalist and co-writer Tobin Sprout, guitarist Mitch Mitchell, bassist Greg Demos and drummer Kevin Fennell brings to mind another line from "Hamlet": "Old friends are the best friends." Or at least, at making some of the best music.Guided by Voices is on "Letterman" tonight.