Robert Pollard has spent 30 years beneath the radar, spewing streamlined mod-punk brilliance and chewy experimental pop, most notably with Guided by Voices. Without his impeccable pedigree, however, it would be hard to imagine many listeners approaching the silver fox’s heavily fortified Circus Devils project. The determinedly annoying group’s sixth album finds Pollard sounding like a peyote-visionary lumberjack who has wandered into a rehearsal by a 1970s progressive-rock band, then edited the giant jams down into exhilarating two-minute slivers. Ataxia is Yes’s Tales From Topographic Oceans remade in miniature from pottery fragments and human toenail clippings.

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