Ohio's Guided by Voices [ tickets ], preparing for the release of its next CD, will begin a tour on Thursday (3/22) in Milwaukee. The band will be joined by Creeper Lagoon [ tickets ], from San Francisco's Bay Area, which started its own tour on Tuesday (3/20) in St. Louis.

The two bands will travel together through early April, from the Midwest to the West Coast, then Guided by Voices will head back east to Texas.

Led by founding--and only regular--member Robert Pollard, Guided by Voices has developed a much "bigger" sound since its days as a pioneer of the '90's lo-fi movement, though its pop songs still clock in at around two minutes. Writers in both Rolling Stone and City Pages have recently suggested that the band has yet to graduate from "cult" status.

Guided by Voices' CD "Isolation Drills" (TVT Records) is due on April 3.

Creeper Lagoon, recently named one of the best local bands by liveDaily sister site bayarea.citysearch.com, will be releasing its CD "Take Back the Universe and Give Me Yesterday" (Dreamworks) on April 17.