DTCV (Ex-Guided By Voices) are on tour (Montreal on Friday, March 28)

At first glance, it might appear that ex-Guided By Voices bassist James Greer‘s new outfit, DTCV (pronounced Detective), hasn’t strayed too far from the path blazed by his former band. For one, the cover art for DTCV’s new full-length, Hilarious Heaven (Xemu / Burger) features the immediately-recognizable collage art style of Guided By Voices’ frontman Robert Pollard. Hilarious Heaven‘s sprawling 26-song track list and 68-minute running time also recalls the excessive nature of the best Guided By Voices albums, including Alien Lanes and Under the Bushes Under the Stars, both dating from Greer’s era in the band.

Aesthetic similarities aside, DTCV are actually a very different beast. A true collaboration between Greer and French ex-pat Guylaine Vivarat (formerly of Useless Keys and Tennis System), DTCV owe their eclectic sound as much to the brooding guitar-rock of the Velvet Underground, as to the 60’s psychedelic garage stylings of bands like the Monks (who they cover on Hilarious Heaven), all of which is then filtered through a post-punk lens.

Hilarious Heaven cycles through many styles, yet maintains an overall consistent feeling throughout, whether on a lean and straightforward number like first-single “I Was Where Were You” (video below) , or the 11-minute sax-freakout track, “How Not To Be”. The band also mix in the audio of a Jean-Luc Godard trailer (For Détective, which the band are named after), along with the decidedly American phone threat messages  on “Cars Missing Vol. 1” and “Vol. 2”, creating a unique transatlantic audio pastiche.

DTCV is the end result of two talented songwriters eschewing any genre limitations, and seemingly just following their instincts. You’ll have the chance to see how that translates to a live setting when the band play Montreal’s Divan Orange on March 28. Tickets for that show are available here. All current DTCV dates are listed below.

DTCV 2014 North American Tour Dates:

3/11-3/16 – Austin, TX @ SXSW
3/15 – Dallas, TX @ The Crown and Harp
3/16 – Hot Springs, AR @ Low Key Arts
3/17 – New Orleans, LA @ Circle Bar
3/18 – Pensacola, FL @ Sluggo’s
3/19 – St. Augustine, FL @ Nobby’s
3/21 – Asheville, NC @ Emerald Lounge
3/22 – Charlotte, NC @ Snug Harbor
3/23 – Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
3/24 – Baltimore, MD @ Gold Bar
3/25 – Brooklyn, NY @ The Grand Victory
3/26 – New Haven, CT @ BAR
3/28 – Montreal, QC @ Divan Orange
3/30 – Detroit, MI @ Lager House
4/1 – Akron, OH @ Musica
4/2 – Columbus, OH @ Tree Bar
4/4 – Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar
4/5 – Cincinnati, OH @ MOTR Pub
4/6 – Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop
4/8 – St. Louis, MO @ The Demo
4/10 – Champaign, IL @ Mike ’n Molly’s
4/11 – Chicago, IL @ Township
4/13 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7^th Street Entry
4/16 – Kansas City, MO @ The Riot Room
4/18 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Bar Deluxe