Polvo
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| Polvo | |
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 L-R: Ash Bowie, Steve Popson, Eddie Watkins, and Dave Brylawski.
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA |
| Genre(s) | Indie rock Math rock |
| Years active | 1990 – 1998, 2008 |
| Label(s) | Merge Touch And Go Kitchen Puff Records |
| Website | Polvo |
| Members | |
| Ash Bowie Dave Brylawski Steve Popson Eddie Watkins |
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Polvo are an influential indie noise rock band of the 1990s from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA. The band was fronted by vocalist/guitarist Ash Bowie and guitarist Dave Brylawski. Eddie Watkins played drums, and Steve Popson played bass guitar.
Polvo are considered one of the key proponents of a genre which came to be known as math rock. Their sound was defined by complex and dissonant guitar harmonies and driving rhythm, complementing Bowie's cryptic, often surrealist lyrics. Their sound was so unpredictable and angular that the band's guitarists were often accused of failing to play with correctly tuned guitars. Polvo's songs and artwork frequently featured Asian/"exotic" themes and references. The band's name means "dust" in Spanish; in Spain it also is a slang word for sex.
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[edit] Biography
Polvo were formed in 1990 in Chapel Hill, NC. Their lineup consisted of vocalists/guitarists Ash Bowie and Dave Brylawski, bassist Steve Popson and drummer Eddie Watkins. Bowie and Brylawski met in a Spanish class at the University of North Carolina and shared an admiration for both SST and progressive rock. Polvo's first recording was Can I Ride, a double 7" single released on Kitchen Puff Records in 1991. It was later re-released on CD as the Polvo EP on micro-indie Jesus Christ Records. The band then released two full length albums, two EPs, and several 7"s on Merge Records, a label run by Superchunk's Mac McCaughan, a high-school classmate of Brylawski and Popson. Merge Records issued their debut album, Cor-Crane Secret, in 1992. Reviews were mostly favorable. Today's Active Lifestyles followed in 1993, refining the group's approach, and it was followed in turn by two EPs, 1994's Celebrate the New Dark Age and 1995's This Eclipse. All three releases were recorded by Bob Weston of Shellac. Today's Active Lifestyles is reissued with an alternate cover without the lion image on it, because of a copyright lawsuit.
[edit] Touch & Go
Two albums were released after the band signed to the larger label Touch and Go Records. Their debut for the label was 1996's double-length Exploded Drawing, an eclectic, progressive effort that began to delve more explicitly into the guitarists' fascination with Asian music. Drummer Watkins left the band afterward, his place was taken by Brian Walsby. The rest of the group was beginning to drift apart as well. Brylawski moved to New York City to play with Asian musicians and also traveled to India, while Bowie started dating Helium frontwoman Mary Timony and relocated to Boston to play bass with her band. Polvo reconvened in 1997 to record Shapes. Both Touch and Go releases featured a darker, more progressive rock-oriented sound instead of their earlier, post-punk influenced style. Rumors that it would be their final album proved true when they amicably disbanded later that year.
They were critically acclaimed from the outset, at least among those critics who were into nontraditional/ underground rock. Additionally, their music had a pronounced Eastern feel that came not only from the Indian and Middle Eastern-style drones in their compositions, but actual Eastern instruments like the sitar as well.
[edit] Touring
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Polvo toured the U.S. frequently, with similar-minded bands such as Archers of Loaf, Superchunk, Pipe, Sonic Youth, Unwound, Babes in Toyland and Spatula. They toured twice in Europe, together with Sebadoh and Superchunk.
[edit] Post-breakup activity
The group disbanded in February 1998, as members had been increasingly drifting apart, and Bowie wanted to dedicate his full attention to Helium and then-girlfriend Mary Timony. He also began recording four-track material in his home that wasn't quite right for Polvo, and he eventually turned it into a solo project; adopting the name Libraness, he debuted with Yesterday...and Tomorrow's Shells in 2000 on the Tiger Style label. He has since appeared with the BQ's and recorded and toured with Fan Modine. Brylawski later played in the North Carolina-based Indonesian music-influenced band Idyll Swords, which released two albums on Communion, and currently is a member of The Black Taj, as is Steve Popson. Watkins currently plays drums in Dr. Powerful.
Polvo are reported to reunite for All Tomorrow's Parties 2008. However, drummer Eddie Watkins will be replaced with Brian Quast, formerly of the Cherry Valence. [1] They have also been confirmed too play at the Northwest Music Fest in Portland, OR. [2]
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- Cor-Crane Secret LP/CD (Merge, 1992)
- Today's Active Lifestyles LP/CD (Merge, 1993)
- Exploded Drawing CD/2xLP (Touch & Go, 1996)
- Shapes LP/CD (Touch & Go, 1997)
[edit] EPs
- Celebrate the New Dark Age (EP/ mini album) CD/3x7" box set (Merge, 1994)
- Polvo CD (reissue of "Can I Ride" double 7"; Jesus Christ, 1995)
- This Eclipse CD EP (Merge, 1995)
[edit] Singles
- "Can I Ride" 2x7" (Kitchen Puff, 1990)
- "Vibracobra" 7" (Rockville, 1991)
- "El Cid" split 7" (with Erectus Monotone; Merge, 1992)
- "Tilebreaker" 7" (Merge, 1993)
- "Two Fists/All The Cliches Under Broadway" split 7" (with New Radiant Storm King; Penny Farthing, 1994)
[edit] Compilations
- "Mexican Radio" (originally by Wall of Voodoo) on the Planned Parenthood benefit cd Tannis Root Presents: Freedom of Choice (Tannis Root, 1992)
- "Watch The Nail" on Rows of Teeth (Merge Records, 1994)
