Final GBV Show, Hopscotch Music Festival, Raleigh NC 9/9/11, Photo: Daniel Coston

I apologize if the air of secrecy around what some people are given to call “Greer’s blog deal” has caused anyone breathing problems, but certain things are worth waiting for. I hope you’ll agree. According to MOJO magazine, Guided By Voices has recorded a new album of 21 songs called Let’s Go Eat The Factory. I’m sure the announcement will appear in several other outlets, too, in the next several days, but it will be more or less the same announcement. It will say nothing about plans for future touring because there are no plans for future touring. As with all things Pollard-related, that could of course change. But it’s not the likeliest outcome, frankly.

I’m not going to add much to what you can read in the announcement on the MOJO site, but I can say that I’ve had the honor and privilege of listening to the album for a few weeks now, and that it can best be described as… uh… hold on… let me think… okay: flipping genius. I understand that January 2012 seems like a long time from now (partly because it is), but it will arrive, and sooner than you think, so you should probably pre-order the thing as soon as it’s available for pre-order from Rockathon. I don’t know when that happy day will arrive but I presume soon.

Further details will be revealed in due course, but for now, if you’re any kind of fan of Guided By Voices in any of its many incarnations, I’d say this is cause for celebration.