Two songs from Polvo's In Prism...
 

... "Lucia" and "A Link in the Chain" have floored me. These guys have done something new. Well, new for Polvo.

Anyone heard them?

Just started listening to the record right now (It's streaming on mergerecords.com), and it's sounding pretty good. Only in the first song though, so that's only a couple minutes...

Funny how they changed the song A Thousand Waves to A Link In The Chain. I guess the original title sounded too much like a Thousand Leaves?

~Jeremy~

Man if any band deserved to be more well known, it was definitely Polvo. (Except wtf was with Shapes?)

They're part of my personal canon, but that album will probably never be in rotation for me past the obligatory once a year revisit, you know, in case my ears have been "refined" and what-not.

"A Thousand Waves"...? Wouldn't have been terrible, maybe Ash realized it was too romantic-minded and felt like confusing everyone to the point of interpreting the song in a surreal Hamlet/King Lear-T.S. Eliot commentary way.

wtf I dunno what I mean.

i listened to the stream last night. very solid record.

Pretty good listen. I think it's going to take a few listens before I can really appreciate it though.

Everytime I see the In Prism cover in my peripheral vision, I can't help but think of the blue cover to the Minor Threat Complete Discography.

I streamed the new "In Prism" and it is great! I just saw Polvo in Philly a couple weeks back but didn't remember them doing too many off the new one so its real fresh to me.

Fantastic comeback!

This band was my favorite when I was 16 but for some reason I just don't have any excitement whatsoever to listen to this record. I know I will at some point but ... hmm. We'll see.

Man, I love this new Polvo record. Its a bit more subdued overall perhaps w/ less jagged stop/starts they are known for and some cleaner guitars overall.

BUT do not be worried by this. The arrangements are great, more naturally flowing. I tip my hat to this effort, esp after nearly a dozen or so since Shapes and even longer since Exploded Drawing, their last real good one. I've been streaming In Prism constantly the last 3 days!! My faves are the Pedlar, A Link.., and Lucia.

Anyone want to PM me an... illegal download link?

just go to the Merge Records site, can't miss it. It's streaming free for a bit.

you mean there is no BEGN code to enter?!? WATCH OUT!!
there may be a black hole forming somewhere nearby as a result.

So far I've found it kind of boring.

Lucia is definitely the best one so far guitar wise, but Ash's vocal delivery is kind of weak. It's no "Fast Canoe" or "When Will I Die For the Last Time In Your Dreams?" though

Illegal? Whut?

Capture the streams, if they're still up.

it's on slsk. I just d/l'ed it, will listen when I'm not depressed.

so then you can be depressed after you hear it?

I haven't listened to this album yet.. gonna download it now

I already loved Right the Relation before knowing the title.

Wish it had more bass, though.

Good album. Has GREAT moments. Some not so much. I dunno. Didn't make a huge impression on me but it's better than Shapes, at least!

If anyone wants it, lemme know and i'll pm you a link. Don't feel like getting bitched at for putting a link on here to it, and the people who would ask me for it would go through other means to get it anyway, so I'll just be happy to provide the easiest way of getting it. Through me.

I hoped only that the album would be consistent with 'Beggar's Bowl'.

Much of the album drags in a middle-aged way, but a few songs feel driven by some mature musical reflection.

But yeah, it didn't do to me what Cor-Crane did to me.

Would I be a heretic if I said I liked Shapes better?

Would I be a heretic if I said I thought Shapes was a good album? It's no masterpiece, but I like all of the songs on it. Yes, even Downtown Dedication in all of its bluesiness.

I don't see what the problem is with Shapes. It's no Exploded Drawing, Today's Active Lifestyles, Cor-Crane Secret, or Celebrate the New Dark Age, but it is still a very very good album.

It's not to them what Terror Twilight is to Pavement.


Although I'm thinking the reason that some of you guys hate Shapes is the same reason I'm hating In Prism. Just not what I was expecting at all. Maybe because I didn't think Shapes was all that bad or that big of a departure I had more narrow expectations, and since some of you think that Shapes was a huge departure you were more ready for anything.

A heretic? No.

A hexen? Yes.

ouch

Shapes sounds like a Polvo tribute band, with Jimi Hendrix tribute riffs.

Not at all. i like em' all, not equally of course.

I guess its natural for people to compare In Prism to their favorite Polvo record, but i think it should be listened to on its own merits, considering its over a decade since the last one.

It reminds me of Murray Street in a way bc its a little more naturally flowing and less experimental for the sake of it. I always thought of Murray as a start of a new era for SY and maybe this is too for an aged Polvo. I hope it is the beginning of a lot more Polvo albums!

What's hard to swallow is that while it has some great fucking moments, it lacks a few things that led Polvo to becoming one of my favorite bands in the first place. It's far less rock and pop oriented than their other stuff. (The combination of pop hooks, driving rock rhythms, and guitar weirdness is what sucked me in.)

I think in time I'll grow to like it on its own merits though, as you said.

It certainly doesn't sound twisted enough for my tastes. It's still a good album. I don't want to let my expectations cloud the fact that it's still a really written album. At least one of the guitars sounds completely in standard tuning throughout the whole thing. Not a bad thing, but certainly not what I listen to Polvo for, usually. (that was kinda my criticms with Shapes -- it was too normal! They're good songwriters, no matter what, but the bent/twisted/fucked-up quality of their music is what makes it appealing to me)

It probably doesn't help that my right ear has been plugged up for the last few days, kind of dampering my musical enjoyment.

On some more listening Lucia and A Link in the Chain are definitely the best songs on the album.

I think it's just a different style of songwriting to be appreciated. A Link in the Chain is actually very Floydish (Echoes)

I've listened to the album a few times, and it does have its highlights.

My problems with it lie in the production; Where's the bass? Sounds too produced, and not as raw as what Polvo usually (Not to mention should) sound like. The arrangements, while solid, aren't what we've come to expect from them, but hey, this is their first record in a while, let's cut 'em some slack and hope they do another record where they get their sound down again. All in all a fairly good record, if nothing mind blowing like what their other records were (Outside of Shapes).

~Jeremy~

I have to agree - it's a little disapointing so far (i'll give it a few more goes) i'm also one of the few that kind of likes Shapes but it's strange though just how straightforward and layed back most of it is. and the moments it has are a bit too few and far between. I dont know.. might be being a bit harsh at this point. I think there's still 3 or 4 things i really like on it and i hope they keep going. but i'm really not sure on some of it.

I dunno, I'm usually pretty harsh on here compared to most people but I'm actually digging this new record. Surprised me how good a lot of it is.

What i like about too is that I can play it pretty much straight through and it holds my interest. There may be one or two that are eh, but it's still enjoyable to let the whole thing play.

first song sounds like a stop-start dinosaur jr.

first track off the album is possibly woeful...the est is ok with smatterings of brilliance..overall id give it a tin of tuna over a vingeary bag of chips(sorry french fries) rather than a old kettle which electrocutes you everytime you try and make tea...but not green tea...that shit will fry your brain.....

no defense
but why do people still care about shitty bands from 1973
they reformed cuz they needed the money
not cuz the muzak is good
fuck them

It's surprisingly good to my ears.

Yes, since every band who ever reformed to release new music was definitely tanking it in, they most certainly had no interest what so ever making music that was enjoyable so their fans would respect it, not to mention maybe make money off of it. It was ALL for the money, without a doubt.

Moron. Have you ever heard their stuff? Calling them a "shitty band" probably tips us off that you haven't.

~Jeremy~

i just got the first neg rep ever. from westernquinoxrox.