English Little League—the fourth album from the reunited “classic” Guided By Voices lineup of Robert Pollard, Tobin Sprout, Greg Demos, Mitch Mitchell and Kevin Fennell—hums like angry birds along the full spectrum of rock’s highways and byways (especially the byways), from rock to roll and back again. Pollard’s rebus system of songwriting (sounds made visible, abstract concepts symbolized) strung like fairy lights from the opening song “Xeno Pariah” to the galvanic closer “With Glass in Foot,” kettles along at full steam throughout, punctuated by the airier constructs of Sprout (“The Sudden Death of Epstein’s Ways,” with its sweet / creepy emphatic refrain of “Jesus,” is a particular standout).
