Polvo
(Merge)
Polvo, you've been missed. The standout band of the school of ‘90s-indie rock has returned, a reunion that should overshadow Slint, Dinosaur, Sebadoh... hell, even the Pixies. A bold statement, perhaps, but one given muscle by the quality of the band's new album.
This is the Polvo you know and love-twisted passages of guitar lines curling over one another, frantic drum breaks, raga-like transitions, hypnotic noise jams. The better moments on the album, such as opening track "Right the Relation" and "Beggars Bowl," are ones that furiously rock with agitated fervor. Power chords, discordant riffs, and bass thumps start and stop at the drop of a dime. But the band is also in good form when it's subdued, as on the nine-minute closing track, "A Link in the Chain." Polvo's voice remains one of the most unique in guitar-based indie rock. Though you can hear its influence in countless bands making music today, no one does it quite like the originators.
Standout Tracks: "Right the Relation," "Beggars Bowl" JONAH FLICKER
