I’ll admit it—I never liked Guided By Voices. Pretty much the same way I thought tight vintage t-shirts with ironically cheery iron-ons were insufferably pretentious. And let’s face it—there’s a daunting amount of GBV you’d have to pick through to find the choice material assembled on Human Amusements. But I’m big enough to concede that these are some of the hookiest, quirkiest, most intelligent tunes I’ve ever laid my uncultured ears on. I lack the space to tell of the charms of “14 Cheerleader Coldfront,” or “I Am a Scientist” or any of the other 30 excellent tracks, but suffice to say I will be catching up on Robert Pollard and Co. with this record for some time to come. If you, too, missed the GBV bandwagon, Human Amusements is probably a more attractive alternative to surfing your neighborhood Pollardite’s collection, and less embarrassing, since your intransigent pride kept you from some of the best rock of the last decade. Swine.