VIDEO PREMIERE: The Cle Elum Spin a Punchy and Rocking Power Pop Ode to One of Their Favorite Bands with “Guided By Guided By Voices”

Currently based in Chattanooga, Sarah Sargent Pepper (drums) and Ian Lee (vocals, guitars, keys) met in 2011. At that time, Lee had logged an extensive history with rock and punk acts including Bad Oskar, Woolworthy, Not Rebecca, Tom Daily, Electric Airlines (with Ed Roser from Urge Overkill), and Kevin Lee (with Jon Brant from Cheap Trick), among others. Sargent Pepper had also spent a good number of years behind the kit and behind the scenes as a tour manager and merchandising pro.

With the couple finding themselves “inseparable” and a “true force of nature team,” they devised a way to stay together on the road and also launched Affordable Tour Solutions, a boutique tour support company.

Their 2024 debut, It’s Ok If It Falls Apart (released August 16, 2024 via Winston Sounds), captured a decade of touring and partnership. The album delivered hook-driven, genre-fluid standouts like “Handclaps and Tambourines,” “Old Folks,” “I Am A Robot” (featuring Matthew Caws of Nada Surf), and “Goodbye Night Sky” (featuring Josh Caterer of The Smoking Popes), blending power pop energy with harmony-rich storytelling.

Following US and European tours last year supporting Nada Surf, The Cle Elum now take We Must Need It, their sophomore LP due out this fall, on the road. This run with Grandaddy marks the band’s biggest tour to date, bringing their stacked harmonies and high-energy live show to new audiences.

Today, Glide is offering an exclusive premiere of “Guided By Guided By Voices,” a punchy, hook-driven indie rocker built for fans of power-pop classics. Offering an early glimpse at the band’s next chapter, which clearly includes plenty of infectious rock tunes. If the name doesn’t give it away, the song is an ode to the band’s adoration for Guided By Voices. As one might hope, there are influences of that band as well as peers like Dinosaur Jr. with a punk element adding a touch of intensity to complement this melodic tune. Considering the greatness of Guided By Voices and their prolific career, this is a reminder that perhaps more bands should be writing songs about them.

The due describes the influence and process behind the tune:

“There’s no way to overstate how important Guided By Voices is to me. This song is our attempt to tell Bob and the band how much we love them — which is harder than you’d think, like trying to explain love to your cat. We had two rules: it couldn’t suck, and it had to be quick. Our touring guitarist Matthew Pittman and I wrote it in two takes. I told him his job was to deliver a Doug Gillard-worthy solo. If this song leads even one person to discover Guided By Voices, my work is done. And we’re thrilled to hit the road with Grandaddy. I imagine we’ll be comparing GBV notes after the shows.”

WATCH:

The Cle Elum – Tour Dates

5/02 – Chattanooga, TN – The Woodshop
5/08 – Santa Ana, CA – The Observatory*
5/09 – Tucson, AZ – La Rose*
5/12 – Austin, TX – Mohawk*
5/13 – Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall*
5/14 – Dallas, TX – The Kessler Theater*
5/16 – Denver, CO – Gothic Theatre*
5/17 – Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Block Party*
5/19 – Boise, ID – Treefort Music Hall*
5/20 – Bend, OR – Midtown Ballroom*
5/22 – Sacramento, CA – Ace Of Spades*
5/23 – Santa Cruz, CA – Rio Theatre*
5/24 – Ventura, CA – Ventura Music Hall*
5/31 – Modesto, CA – Gallo Center for the Arts*

*w/ Grandaddy