ARTIST: Polvo                                             

TITLE: Cor-Crane Secret

YEAR RELEASED: 1992

CHART ACTION: Nope

SINGLES: Can I Ride, Vibracoba, In the Hand – In the Sieve

OTHER SONGS YOU MAY KNOW: If you were in Raleigh or Chapel Hill, yeah.

LINEUP: Ash Bowie, Dave Brylawski, Steve Popson, Eddie Watkins

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: A stew of their influences, Polvo’s debut album was right in the wheelhouse for fans of distorted and noisy yet not loud guitars.

SOME WORDS, PHRASES AND CLAUSES ABOUT THIS RECORD: Ash Bowie and crew definitely had listened to the shoegazer bands from the UK, as well as the post-punk and punk rock bands and local acts.

Polvo uses distorted guitars, interesting time signatures and tunings, and vocals that are laid usually under the instrumental tracks (much like the shoegazers), but there’s a sense of pop to Bowie’s singing and lyrics that lead the listener to realize there’s more than just distorted and disjointed chords afoot.

They soon became one of the favorite acts on Superchunk’s Merge Records, and with good reason. This album doesn’t disappoint and begs for listens.

NOTES & MINUTIAE: Bowie met bandmate Dave Brylawski in Spanish class at UNC.

IS THERE A DELUXE VERSION: No

GRADE: A-: Definitely for those who don’t mind a little distortion and noise, but also want some melodies sneaking through.