Lo-fi power-pop artists Guided by Voices are holed up in producer and former

Cars frontman Ric Ocasek's home studio, finishing tracks for a new,

as-yet-untitled album. Frontman Robert Pollard and his band's new lineup --

guitarist Doug Gillard, bassist Greg Demos and former

Breeders member Jim MacPherson on drums -- recorded basic tracks

for the album with producer Ocasek (Weezer, Nada Surf) in the Electric

Lady studios in Manhattan, N.Y., early in September. The band and Ocasek hope to

finish work on the album by the end of September, with a release date planned for early

'99, according to Kris Gillespie, a product manager at Matador, the band's label.