Styles We Paid For

Styles We Paid For is the 32nd studio album by American indie rock band Guided by Voices, released on December 11, 2020. The album was initially intended to be recorded only with analogue technology and was entitled Before Computers, but the band had to scrap that idea due to the COVID-19 pandemic and instead assembled the recordings by sharing digital files from their respective homes.[3][4] The album was preceded by the single "Mr. Child" in October[5] and has received positive reviews from critics.

Styles We Paid For
A group of fashionable men standing in front of a series of random letters typed by a typewriter
Studio album by
Guided by Voices
ReleasedDecember 11, 2020 (2020-12-11)
Recorded2020[1]
Studio
  • Magic Door, Montclair, New Jersey, United States
  • Serious Business Music, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States
Genre
Length38:15
LanguageEnglish
LabelGuided by Voices, Inc.
ProducerTravis Harrison
Guided by Voices chronology
Mirrored Aztec
(2020)		 Styles We Paid For
(2020)		 Earth Man Blues
(2021)

Reception

Editors at AllMusic rated this album 4 out of 5 stars, with critic Timothy Monger writing that it is "no slouch of a record" in spite of Guided by Voices' prodigious output and the band members "gamely readjusted their approach to suit the times and continued their hot streak with another reliably solid latter-day release" with remote collaboration during the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] Writing for Guitar.com, Gary Walker rated Styles We Paid For a 7 out of 10, characterizing it as "restless, varied, challenging and absolutely teeming with ideas" and praising the guitar playing of Doug Gillard.[3] A brief review in Rolling Stone rates it 3.5 out of 5 stars—between "good" and "excellent"—and calls this album "piled high with indie-rock anthems of a guy who never runs out of garage-rock kicks".[2] The Spill Magazine's Matt Morris rated Styles We Paid For 3 out of 5, stating that the album lacks variety: "[u]nfortunately the earworms are only scattered. While nothing is bad, only a few songs truly stick out. With very little instrumental variation and few changes in tempo songs quickly start to blend into each other."[6]

Track listing

All songs written by Robert Pollard

  1. "Megaphone Riley" – 2:06
  2. "They Don't Play the Drums Anymore" – 2:08
  3. "Slaughterhouse" – 4:32
  4. "Endless Seafood" – 2:58
  5. "Mr Child" – 3:22
  6. "Stops" – 2:04
  7. "War of the Devils" – 2:32
  8. "Electronic Windows to Nowhere" – 1:57
  9. "Never Abandon Ship" – 1:56
  10. "Roll Me to Heaven" – 2:16
  11. "In Calculus Strategem" – 2:04
  12. "Crash at Lake Placebo" – 2:45
  13. "Liquid Kid" – 3:23
  14. "Time Without Looking" – 1:43
  15. "When Growing Was Simple" – 2:31

Personnel

Guided by Voices

Additional personnel

  • Matt Davis – engineering
  • Travis Harrison – engineer, mixing, production
  • Ray Ketchem – drum engineering
  • Mike Lipps – engineering
  • Joe Patterson – layout
  • Jeff Powell – mastering for vinyl LP edition
  • Jamal Ruhe – mastering

See also

References
  1. Monger, Timothy (n.d.). "Guided by Voices – Styles We Paid For". AllMusic. RhythmOne. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  2. "Quick Hits". Reviews. Rolling Stone. No. 1346. December 2020. p. 70. ISSN 0035-791X.
  3. Walker, Gary (December 14, 2020). "The Big Listen: Guided By Voices – Styles We Paid For". Reviews. Guitar.com.
  4. Erhlich, Brenna (July 23, 2020). "Guided By Voices' Robert Pollard Talks Record-Breaking Livestream, (Another) New Album". Music. Rolling Stone.
  5. Erhlich, Brenna (October 15, 2020). "Guided By Voices Announce Third Album of 2020, Drop New Song 'Mr. Child'". Music. Rolling Stone.
  6. Morris, Matt (December 11, 2021). "Spill Album Review: Guided by Voices – Styles We Paid For". Album Reviews. The Spill Magazine.
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