Robert Pollard
From A Compound Eye (Merge)
by Marc Hirsh

originally published in The Boston Globe, January 27, 2006

There’s a make-or-break aura to From A Compound Eye that belies its otherwise inconspicuous status as Robert Pollard’s ninth solo album in a career that has included enough additional EPs, collaborations and side projects to bewilder all but the faithful. As his first album since disbanding long-time indie standard-bearers Guided By Voices a year ago, it signifies a new beginning whether Pollard wants it to or not, but he’s such an idiosyncratic writer and performer that the songs on From A Compound Eye could have come from any point in his 20-year career. What’s different this time around is a curious enervation, and the songs lack the anthemic punch of his best work. But even the most abstruse of Pollard’s releases typically feature a handful of gems, and “The Right Thing,” “I’m A Widow” and “I’m A Strong Lion” find him engaged and focused, while “Conqueror Of The Moon” nearly condenses his entire approach into a single song. Dipping into the groove of his own “Hot Freaks,” he seeks out his elusive synthesis of the Who and Peter Gabriel-era Genesis, throwing in a pounding stoner-rock midsection before ending with guitars that swirl and jangle like the Clean.

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