Albums by this artist

Shapes (1997)

Polvo EP (1991)

Polvo

Polvo EP

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» JONATHAN COHEN | SENIOR EDITOR

Polvo Polvo EP Kitchen Puff, 1991 RiYL: Sonic Youth, Modest Mouse, Seam, Versus

Chapel Hill, N.C.'s Polvo have been deceased for some time, but even the group's earliest recorded efforts continue to impress nearly a decade after being put to tape. Indeed, this self-titled EP, which compiles the contents on Polvo's debut double 7-inch, would seem to provide a virtual blueprint for the early sound of future contemporaries such as Versus, Seam, and Modest Mouse.

Polvo's angular guitar attack, which was largely devoid of proper hooks on albums such as 1994's Celebrate The New Dark Age, actually offers up here some of the most "normal" chord progressions and song forms in which the band would ever indulge. Despite a poor mix (is that a fretless bass?) and even poorer singing throughout, this EP is a fine intro into the Polvo catalog.

"Can I Ride" is a big burst of Superchunk-style chiming guitars that veer into discordant post-verse riffing but manage to swerve back on the road. The endearingly out-of-tune "Leaf" introduces guitarist Ash Bowie's career-long flirtation with Middle Eastern-tinged melodies, while "Lull" weds Sonic Youth's oddball tunings to Pell Mell's hearty instrumentalism, with some random breakdowns for good measure.

The snappy dual guitars of "Tread On Me" don't give way to vocals until 1:45 in, and then promptly fly into a nifty jam with shades of Thurston and company. Some vaguely menacing singing is at the forefront of the concise garage rave-up "Teen Dream," but "Snake Fist Fighter" presages the lengthy, mind-bending workouts that would mark later efforts (and the kind of punky abandon one finds in early Modest Mouse records). Polvo throw a little bit of everything into the mix here: Thinking Fellers Union Local 282-ish pitch bends, martial drumming, and some very un-indie rock soloing.

They were never exactly guitar rock's shining light, but Polvo had plenty of white hot moments. And on the "Polvo" EP, you can hear it all bubbling underneath, ready to erupt.

JONATHAN COHEN | Jonathan Cohen co-created Nude As The News with his Indiana University mates Troy Carpenter and Ben French. When not traversing the globe for business and pleasure, he holds down the fort as a senior editor for Billboard in New York. Stop him and he just may ask, "what for lunch?"