Hop in the “Magic Taxi,” turn on the AM radio, and travel 40-45 years back in time with Cub Scout Bowling Pins.

The music project has been mysteriously presented, but it’s a not-so-secret alias of the ridiculously prolific and talented Guided By Voices, helmed by the illustrious Robert Pollard.

Minus the usual punk and prog influences, there are strong whiffs of bubble gum pop, trippy psych, and soft rock with sugary doses of ornate baroque grandeur.

Long renowned scholars of rock, the Ohio-based players have occasionally worn their influences on their sleeves, but this time they seemingly have their put on their jackets inside out.

Perhaps conceptually similar to how GBV went tongue-in-cheek “country” backing Cash Rivers & The Sinners in 2018, but Cub Scout Bowling Pins is a thousand times subtler, like an eccentric cousin of GBV with the oddball knob turned up by 10%.

And while Cash Rivers discs trade hands among collectors on Discogs for hundreds of dollars, Cub Scout Bowling Pins’ debut 7” “Heaven Beats Iowa” was recently spotted for sale for no less than $10,000.

Big Takeover is pleased to host the premiere of the Cub Scout Bowling Pins’ debut long player, Clang Clang Ho! today, before its official release on July 2nd via Guided By Voices Inc and Rockathon Records.

On the LP, America’s newest hit-makers dip into retro-futuristic weirdness, side-by-side with whimsical sophistication and candy-coated technicolor complexity.

Romping indie rockers and strumming folk numbers flow into trippy reflections and earnest chuggers and heart-tuggers.

In the flip-flop world of Summer 2021, transistor radios will vibrate with the sweet and hooky “We” and “Nova Mona,” while “© 1-2-3” will ‘climb’ the ‘charts’ (which charts those are, nobody knows).

“Ride My Earthmobile” spins like an even-more demented 13th Floor Elevators. And is that Jimmy Webb or Lee Hazlewood hidden behind the latest issue of “The Telegraph Hill Gazette”?

“Schoolmaster Bones” chortles with a groovy pretzel logic, while “Space Invader” and “Magic Taxi” beckon with jangling guitars, shimmering strings, Mellotrons, and vintage synths.

Following three critically-lauded GBV albums recorded in quarantine in 2020, is this a light-hearted detour – a midlife crisis or just good clean Pandemic fun? Cub Scout Bowling Pins beg the questions: Exactly what mind-altering substances are they taking? And where can we get some?

Clang Clang Ho!

Pre-order Clang Clang Ho! at Rockathon Records’ Website

Guided By Voices
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