Say what you want about their recorded output of late, but Guided by Voices is still a great live band. The vital essence of one of these guys' shows is its alcoholic synchronicity: the band is drunk, the audience is drunk, the soundman is drunk, and the guy who sells the t-shirts is drunk. It's easy to be awed by all that beery, convivial rock-n-roll magic. And if you're one of the hundreds of fans in the grip of a Guinness-induced haze, you might even be tempted to pick up one of Robert Pollard's solo albums from the merch table.

The next day, after sobering up a bit, you put the disc in to try to recapture the magic you felt the night before. Of course, it doesn't really work, because now you're sober. Pollard's not though-- he's drunk and throwing up all over your carpet. Somehow, it seems less fun. (I don't mean to imply that Pollard is drunk all the time, just that every time I see him, he's drunk.)

It's easy to see why I feel a bit conflicted toward Pollard these days-- he's consistently shown a complete lack of understanding as to what draws people to his music. On one hand, that's refreshing because he shouldn't be pandering to the indie cabal. On the other, it's annoying because I'm part of that cabal, damnit. First, he jumps ship from Matador to fuckin' TVT; then he releases Do the Collapse, an album with nearly none of the qualities that made Guided by Voices good; and on top of that, he keeps issuing mediocre solo albums every other month.

The wiser among us already know to steer clear of Pollard's solo albums, since the filler ratio on regulation GBV albums is high enough as it is. So why am I recommending Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Department against conventional wisdom? Two words: Doug Gillard. The ex-Cobra Verde guitarist had already earned my respect for penning Mag Earwhig's standout track, "I Am a Tree." Here, he proves himself as the Keith Richards that Pollard's Mick Jagger has been looking for all along: a solid musician, a nimble guitarist, and a grounding force to balance out Pollard's more self-indulgent urges. And while Gillard co-wrote only four of these songs, his influence can be felt throughout the whole album. He takes Pollard's diamond-in-the-rough talent and polishes it just enough to let it shine, while retaining its lo-fi vibe.

You can pretty much skip the first two tracks and head straight to "Pop Zeus," on which Gillard's chirpy riff rides an irresistible wave of driving rock. Starting there, Pollard and Gillard reel off a series of tunes that are as good or better than anything off Do the Collapse: the downbeat power-balladry of "Slick as Snails" (which is miles better than the syrupy "Hold On Hope"); the stark, watery sadness of "Port Authority;" the picture-perfect pop of "And I Don't (So Now I Do)"; and the comic-book fantasia "Tight Globes," which beats "Teenage FBI" at its own game.

So at least the music side of things is taken care of. But the lyrics? Ah... the lyrics. Well, Pollard occasionally turns ugly phrases like, "Pagan shutters described at shrine/ Dark stems large elephantine," or "Iceberg heads and alien flavors/ This being a giftshop." But there are also quite a few glimmers of meaningfulness on Speak Kindly-- maybe more than on any other Pollard solo effort, which makes it exponentially better than the others. Pollard can be subtly chilling ("The sight of you/ Is building up a war inside of me/ You're my kind of woman/ I get rid of you") or full of oddly touching hopefulness ("Knock down all the houses/ Pull up all the trees/ Make a wish/ Life is beautiful") when he tries to be.

Yeah, I know that saying that Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Department is Pollard's best solo album isn't saying a whole lot. Even saying that it's more satisfying than Do the Collapse isn't saying much more. But when you look at it another way-- that this is the best Pollard's done since Mag Earwhig-- isn't it enough? If nothing else, it'll tide you over until Guided by Voices get smart and release a double live album while someone's still interested.

-Nick Mirov