Guided by Voices will release Earth Man Blues, their 33rd album, on April 30 via Rockathon Records. Robert Pollard took songs he’d written over the last few years that ended up not getting recorded for other records, and reworked and refashioned them to fit a loose concept album about a musical stage production. While the idea of an album of leftovers from a group stampeding towards their 40th album might not sound immediately appealing, Guided by Voices are not your average group and Pollard’s throwaways are another band’s lead single. Case in point: “Trust Them Now” is a fantastic pop basher with a strong punk edge to it a la Buzzcocks. It goes down smooth, though, thanks to Pollard way with a melody and his velvety voice.

On Earth Man Blues‘ lyric sheet, the songs come with little descriptors and “Trust Them Now” says “Psychic counseling from a benevolent guardian…mild haze – new phase.” Keep that in mind while listening — the song premieres in this post: