Ohio native Robert Pollard’s faux-British accent has never been more pronounced than on “Accidental Texas Who,” the first track on the mega-prolific ex-Guided By Voices leader’s second Merge solo disc of 2006. The range of material on January’s From a Compound Eye was kind of like the menu for an eclectic restaurant: A coupla punky garage rave-ups, an aching ballad or four and some extended sci-fi prog-rock workouts, not to mention the occasional two-minute pop masterpiece hidden among the gloaming. Happily, shining examples of the latter make up the entirety of the far briefer and more focused Normal Happiness. Case in point is “Rhoda, Rhoda” which might be the most mindlessly enjoyable tune in Pollard’s staggeringly voluminous songbook: Like almost everything else here, it’s infectious, charming, offhand and over before you know it. Pollard’s gift for melody and riff might have long ago made him a serious contender on the pop charts instead of the beloved cult crank he remains…that is, if he didn’t tend to burden his most accessible songs with titles like “Supernatural Car Lover” and “Gasoline Ragtime.” Regardless, this latest can of Pollardian earworms is among his most consistent, which itself makes Normal Happiness an anomaly in a proudly erratic career.
This article appears in Oct 26 – Nov 1, 2006.