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Review: Polvo | In Prism

Merge (2009)
By MICHAEL BRODEUR  |  September 9, 2009
3.5 3.5 Stars

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All a-bubble over my first listen to In Prism, I took to the Internet, where I learned that the album "is required listening for any bands still using guitars." I was feeling it. Not since their two-disc statement of purpose Exploded Drawing had Polvo sounded so together — and after 13 years of relative hiatus (not counting '97's WZLX-y Shapes), that's no mean feat. Of course, mere seconds was all it took for a friend to sample some of the songs off the Merge site and suggest a revision to the album's status: "required listening for any bands who enjoy Polvo." True enough.

The specific contributions of the Chapel Hill patron saints of busted guitars to the enduring vocabulary of indie rock may be hard to pinpoint, but only because Polvo's influence was more upon the climate. They certainly took the Louisville-scene epics on much more elegant dates (as they did on "Gemini Cusp" or "Fast Canoe" and as they now do on "A Link in the Chain").

But instead of the long abstract laps they used to run, Polvo seem way more settled into their style — at home enough within their songs to do some serious fussing over the details. Little rattlesnake guitar lines keep your eyes on the ground through "Beggar's Bowl"; "The Pedlar" might be a makeover of "Houses of the Holy" to some and the fulfillment of Shapes' promise to others; "A Link in the Chain" may be their finest foray into unattended noise ever. In Prism finds Polvo at their most forwardly sonic. Many of these songs could have come off their pivotal 1994 Celebrate the New Dark Age EP, both in sound and in spirit. More than just a slack reunion, the album marks another turning point in a band who may yet wind up describing a circle.

Related: Polvo give it another go, Classic retro, Enrich thy neighbor, Portland, More more >
  Topics: CD Reviews , Polvo, Polvo
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ARTICLES BY MICHAEL BRODEUR
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   GUS GUS | 24-7  |  September 15, 2009
    Letting the music take control is a primary tenet of the dance-floor ethos — but that's only because dance music is by nature submissive. Even at its most sonically rich, dance music remains a utility, and even when it demands your attention, it does so in service to your good times.
  •   OFF THE RECORD?  |  September 14, 2009
    Pity the album. After a half-century of embarrassingly public body issues, our essential rock unit has not entered the new millennium looking very healthy. EPs are way more in vogue, MP3s have intangibility on their side, and 12-inches just sound impressive.
  •   REVIEW: POLVO | IN PRISM  |  September 09, 2009
    All a-bubble over my first listen to In Prism , I took to the Internet, where I learned that the album "is required listening for any bands still using guitars."
  •   TAKEN BY TREES | EAST OF EDEN  |  September 02, 2009
    Truth be told, I get a little crumply whenever I hear of Western indie types going off on East-bound inspirational jaunts.
  •   YOUNG FOLK  |  September 04, 2009
    The long-beating heart of Boston's folk scene may be Club Passim — and the Cantab its liver — but its bloodstream runs all through town. I don't know that much about the circulatory system, so we'll nix this metaphor in just a bit, but suffice to say, a vibrant folk scene, whatever form it takes, is a sign of health for one's larger music community.

 See all articles by: MICHAEL BRODEUR

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