Does less rock but more roll equate to lower a group’s potency? Not so as “© 1-2-3,” the new single/video from Cub Scout Bowling Pins can attest to as it bubbles with a wide array of delectable pop enthusiasm. It’s equipped with an unencumbered amount of classic 70s AM radio pop explosiveness. But this is what we should have expected of Cub Scout Bowling Pins.

The group is the alter ego of the Robert Pollard-fronted Guided By Voices, eschewing the holy rock, punk and prog action for something relatively tamer but no less punchy within its songwriting aspects. The song for the video “© 1-2-3,” is off the group’s debut LP Clang Clang Ho (Rockathon Records) under the new moniker, set for release July, 2, 2021. The record is preceded by its Heaven Beats Iowa EP, released this past January. Now while the EP itself held semblances of GBV’s heavier guitar antics, the candy-coated sweetness of the songs couldn’t be denied. With Clang Clang Ho, Cub Scout Bowling Pins turns things up a notch… or down, depending on who you ask.

The video seen here sports long-winding highway imagery as bowling balls and pins merge together within, as well as old camcorder and super-8 family recordings. It’s all pieced together neatly as the music gently drifts with sweet melodies and hooks around just about every turn.

While in quarantine, Guided By Voices the band recorded three albums in 2020, sidestepping along the way for Cub Scout Bowling Pins’ forthcoming Clang Clang Ho which sports no less than 20 tracks that are certain to find a place bookended alongside the multiple songs the band has recorded. Everyone should be in for this go-around, showcasing the band’s pop dexterity. As if we all didn’t already know.