Bring Robert Pollard a strong drink or a cold one. Maybe he’s already got one, but a backup is always a good move. The now graying “senator” from Ohio has the floor again with this month’s “Normal Happiness,” so getting into the habit of having a mixing straw and some 190-proof Everclear at the ready is advisable for any rock clubs welcoming him in on his upcoming tour in support of it. It’s another album of those slight, but potent flashes of Pollard dealing out his famous indie rock. A parcel of normal happiness, if the record’s to be read correctly, would involve cocktails, distancing yourself from agitation and a little bit of Ohio State Buckeye football. This year again, Pollard has had the great fortune of watching his all-powerful home state football team beat the stuffing out of everyone it’s played. They killed Texas and this made the former Guided By Voices big man happy. They killed Iowa and this made him happy. It goes on like that. I wonder what his tailgating practices would be. My guesstimate is that they would be spookily reminiscent of “The Electrifying Conclusion,” the Plexifilm DVD of the band’s final marathon show at the Metro in Chicago, but would include more kabobs, burgers and lighter fluid. Normal happiness is seeing the chains stretch to their full extension and the nose of the football peeking out on the other side, prolonging an Ohio State drive. A line from “Top of My Game” seems to suggest it, “Don’t move the chains/I’d like to see it/At least have it measured/Where logic remains/There is hope…” If those No. 1-ranked Buckeyes keep it up, there should be no problem keeping this guy’s spirits high (and topped-off). – Sean Moeller

Bob was digging these particular things last week:

*Something about a compilation CD*…
Making a Keith Relf compilation cd. He was the lead singer for The Yardbirds. I got to go through all The Yardbirds’ stuff and find songs he wrote. He didn’t write many songs but the 12 I found were great. It also included a song from Armageddon, his early 70s metal band and his final 1976 single “All the Falling Angels,” which is mind blowingly beautiful.

*Something about the Buckeyes*…
Watching Ohio State pound yet another unworthy opponent (14 straight).

*Something about a set list*…
Beginning work on learning the massive set list for the upcoming “Normal Happiness” tour. Some nice surprises, I think, plus seven brand new songs from the next album.

*Something about a beatnik*…
Finishing a Jack Kerouac biography and beginning On the Road which, embarrassingly, I have never read. Hey, it’s good….

*Something about a George Clooney flick*…
Watching “Syriana.” It was intense but fortunately for my slow ass, not as complex as I had heard.