***During their initial run from 1990–1998, POLVO crafted a sound so fantastically obstinate and so perfectly cockeyed that its DNA is essentially resistant to mediocrity or repetition. On Siberia, that sound feels more limber and more aerodynamic than ever. Its songs glide and bob like UFOs, both serene and unsettling. Some of that is owed to a looser approach. “Preparing for In Prism, we labored over that material pretty intensively,” explains founding guitarist ASH BOWIE. “A lot of the songs on this album were not rehearsed much at all. I’d like to think this album has a few more adventurous moments.” One of those is the spiraling “Blues Is Loss,” which moves from a dense knot of sound—an impossible tangle of Bowie’s and DAVE BRYLAWSKI’s guitars, STEVE POPSON’s chugging bass, and BRIAN QUAST’s tumbling percussion—to a conclusion that clangs and peals like church bells. There are the classic-sounding moments, too, like terrifically herky-jerk album opener “Total Immersion,” which is grounded in surging bass and a pair of surgically focused guitar lines. An obvious point of comparison would be to Today’s Active Lifestyles, released—perhaps not coincidentally—exactly 20 years ago. Where that album thrived on a nervous, coiled energy, Siberia feels more surefooted, more poised and controlled. It’s the work of a band that’s been here before, but the experience has only made them more at ease. Siberia is a record that’s humming with confidence, the sound of a band with nothing to prove, but proving it anyway. Street Date - 10/1/13
LP $18.25
10/01/2013
CD $13.50
10/01/2013
***”It might be too soon to declare In Prism the best POLVO record eve, but it might be okay by the time you’re done reading this. Only at this point in life would Polvo be so assured, so casually stormy and intensely calm, graceful and free with their power without setting aside anything that made them the rock artists they were during their first, unblemished run. There is not a thing on In Prism that they aren’t doing better than before: the sidewinder guitars and the mighty roar and the moody atmospheres and the psychedelic explosiveness; the writing, the singing, the words you can understand, the ones you can’t. Polvo spent 1990–98 giving voice to a chorus of discrete rock & roll ideas that really hadn’t been heard before. And while there was nothing wrong before, it’s now so much more right—perhaps because after ten years none of the peripheral stuff matters anymore. Now is for Polvo, and Polvo is for now. In Prism is the best Polvo record even before you get to the majestic “A Link in the Chain,” serene and tempestuous like few other things you’ll hear. The album was recorded with BRIAN PAULSON and Polvo has never sounded better. Don’t you agree?”—Mike Wolf, NYC, 6/09
CD $14.50
09/14/2009
2X12" $22.50
09/14/2009
