Mag Earwhig!

After the classic line-up dissolved, Pollard recruited the Cleveland group Cobra Verde as his backing band while keeping the Guided by Voices name. Mag Earwhig! was the second release to feature Doug Gillard, who had played on and co-written Mice Feel Nice (In My Room) on the Tigerbomb EP. Most of it was recorded in a professional Cleveland studio, a departure from the lo-fi sound, with additional songs recorded in Dayton. Portable Men's Society and Little Lines touch on hard rock and progressive rock. Jane of the Waking Universe features the classic line-up for one last time. I Am a Tree is credited to Gillard, and the Guardian wrote that Gillard brought it from an earlier band, the Mice, with Pollard audibly slurring. The line-up split in late 1997.