Guided By Voices deny they are breaking up but confirm they have stopped playing live
After decades of being a mainstay in the indie rock world, Guided By Voices‘ guitarist claimed the band will no longer play live and said they were “breaking up” before the band issued a new statement denying the latter of the claims.
The rock legends, fronted by singer Robert Pollard, have been pioneering the lo-fi indie rock sound since their first record, 1987’s Devil Between the Toes. Since reforming in 2016 with a brand new lineup, the band has enjoyed a prolific release schedule.
During a recent appearance on the Raw Impressions podcast with Dinosaur Jr’s Lou Barlow, guitarist Bobby Bare Jr confirmed that there are no plans for the group to ever perform live again, saying, “We’re breaking up. You never will [hear us live].”
In a new update, the band told Rolling Stone they are not breaking up but are instead focussing on recording material rather than playing live. Their new album, Thick Rich and Delicious, is set for release on Halloween.
Podcast host Barlow also told the publication: “My understanding is that they didn’t have plans to play more live shows. But I think they are still recording! Not broken up. And yea, I had a lot of technical difficulties during the podcast episode.”
Guided By Voices previously broke up in the past. After Half Smiles of the Decomposed in 2004, Pollard announced his plans to not make any more records, saying, “This feels like the last album for Guided By Voices. I’ve always said that when I make a record that I’m totally satisfied with as befitting a final album, then that will be it. And this is it.”
Between then and the recent incarnation, Pollard continued to release solo material and turned down any opportunity for them to reform, saying that doing so would be the equivalent of cashing in on their legacy.
However, following the announcement of the early 1990s lineup’s reunion in 2010, a full-blown reunion tour was planned for the indie rock icons. Pollard had also released solo material alongside Guided By Voices since their reformation, with his last studio album, Of Course You Are, being released in 2016.
After announcing the dissolution of the classic lineup on Facebook in 2014, Pollard came out with a completely different incarnation of the band in 2016, featuring Bare, Kevin March, Nick Mitchell, and Mark Shue.
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