polvo...

Yeah, I think it's one of the dudes for The Cherry Valence, who were a pretty great live band (though they had two drummers, so not sure which one it is ...)

That's "from the Cherry Valence"

that was a great band!

Yeah, they were.

Oh wow - excited to hear this!

so does this mean no more Black Taj? cuz that would be a bummer

holy shit this is awes

this album will be exciting

v. jazzed. this song is awesome.

excellent! when's the album come out??

*punches air*

Some blog says: "“Beggar’s Bowl” is the third track on the eight-stacked In Prism. The album is due in stores Sept. 8 through the Durham-based label."

Is 'In Prism' a horrible pun on 'in prison'?

great song! at first i was kind of thinking "is it really supposed to sound like this?", there's some heavy studio trickery going on here and i like it.

fuck yes, go polvo!

this new song is one of Polvo's best!
and it's kinda good surprise to me cause i thought math rock could never sound fresh and exciting again.

I was always a little underwhelmed by the polvo stuff I'd heard throughout the years. even had an album at some point. but this song RUUULES.

maybe it's the drummer?

i am a captain save-a-shapes...never knew why ppl didn't like that album as much as me.

huge polvo fan, saw them on the shapes tour--but never even heard the record

that's how bad the reception of it was, if i remember correctly

i liked shapes fine when i first heard it (and still think it has some good jams) but as i worked backwards through the catalog i realized i liked that stuff more.

it's kind of an odd beast, this song. It's unexpectedly heavy, and has a lot of nods to classic rock; it certainly doesn't sound like anything off my favorite Polvo album, Celebrate the New Dark Age. But it's pretty good nonetheless.

Love the serpentine guitar thing that fades in and out of the mix. Is that a sample or what? Echoplex?

Shapes had a lot of nods to classic rock, which in 1997 was not cool to most folks. So, bad reception. In my mind, though, it holds up extremely well and was a pinnacle of songwriting for the band. Less "cool changes" for the sake of throwing some cool changes in the songs, but still usual great Polvo shit going on. I don't know, I like all of their albums, so it was nice seeing them trot out some new shit. Then of course they were gone. Can't wait to here this new record, seems like it is just going to pick up where they left off. Side note: last show I saw of theirs was with Trans Am. Trans Am closed there set with an AMAZING Led Zeppeling medley (medleys, when done well, are so good live) and Polvo played a Hendrix song (Stoned Free, I think, not a great Hendrix jam but still). Pretty much bummed out all of the Philly dudes I was with who thought Polvo sucked after Cor-Crane Secret. Weird. I couldn't get enough.

"... closed there set with an AMAZING Led Zeppeling medley"

What idiot wrote that? "closed their set ... Zeppelin ..."

yeah, that was the same tour i saw them on last

It was a good show, but the crowd was weird. Dave made fun of Philly for getting rid of Jerry Stackhouse, and the room sat in silence. No one got into the show, it was the days of crossed arms and zero expressions of enthusiasm (for the most part). Then when the classic rock came out ........ Well, I was excited.

hahaha i remember those kinds of shows

it's kind of an odd beast, this song. It's unexpectedly heavy, and has a lot of nods to classic rock; it certainly doesn't sound like anything off my favorite Polvo album, Celebrate the New Dark Age. But it's pretty good nonetheless.

does it sound like anything else in their back catalog? I'm a little curious now and am wondering where to go. but I may just wait for the new one.

it could possibly be a song off of exploded drawing.

but there's a linearity and groove to the track (even though there are like four movements in its five minutes) that set it apart from earlier polvo stuff. they never grooved like this. the drummer knows what he is doing.

there's this repeating guitar loop that totally gets crushed by this syncopated riff, and the drummer just drives it all along. there aren't much vocals in the track, but ash sounds really on. then there's cock-rock solo and coda.

i don't think i've ever heard polvo before, but i like this song a bunch. maria is really excited about a new album. who knew i was living with a closet polvo fan!

ash sounds really on.

he does! ahhhhhhh anticipated album!

thanx, cutty.

pretty (unexpectedly) excited about this new album now!

and yeah, I think the serious groove is what I really like about this track.

Dave made fun of Philly for getting rid of Jerry Stackhouse, and the room sat in silence.

lol when i saw them last june dave was repping unc hoops and dropping kg references on the crowd (in boston) and no one got it either.

most awk moment like that though was when i saw liars (around the same time) and angus dedicated pure unevil to kevin garnett and was intoning really slowly "kevin garnett.....is....PURE UNEVIL" and i think i was the only person laughing.

and yeah, I think the serious groove is what I really like about this track

Yeah, it really changes the vibe. It sounds confident and powerful; I always felt like older Polvo stuff doesn't rock as hard as it should.

Free Polvo show in NYC in case anyone hasn't mentioned... I was too lazy to look hard enough.

http://www.ohmyrockness.com/VenueDetail.cfm?VenueID=189

Very excited!

they're playing here in august

wow i am officially fucking shocked and blown away by that new song on pitchfork...sounds so fucking fierce. dudes are not just doing some going through the motions reunion i guess...daaaaaaaaaamn

Yeah I know. Have listened to it again for the umpteenth time, it's beautiful. Dare I say it, but it's kind of better than Polvo, if that makes any sense.

what's really blowing me away about this song is how it's really complicated, lots of different parts, not necessarily a clear order or pattern, and it just flows like it's the most natural thing in the world. i have ridic hopes for this album now.

I always felt like older Polvo stuff doesn't rock as hard as it should.

― Jesus Christ, Chiropractor at Law (res), Saturday, June 20, 2009 4:10 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark

like thats what made it rule is the moment-to-moment feeling that at any second it could rock SO hard but it mostly didnt

^otm

restraint is one of the noblest musical skills

not only restraint w/r/t rockin-hard but also to melody. polvo's melodic vagueness is something of a virtue as well.

?? i don't understand this at all. older polvo (i.e. celebrate the new dark age) rocked VERY VERY hard.

it did, this is very true. it's not a matter of "rocking hard" it's the GROOVE. the old drummer did not groove. he skittered around the guitars frenetically.

In my mind one of the truly great things about Polvo as well is that they are constantly "going for it" in very restrained ways. In most of their songs the guitars are constantly adding slight variations to the riffs and parts of the songs, coming off as slightly improvisatory but within the framework of the song. Of course they wrote songs with lots of parts the "took you on a journey," so to speak, but even within that the songs were constantly shifting and mixing it up instead of just focussing on perfection or being super super tight. It is something that I wish more bands picked up on.

In Prism track listing:

1. Right the Relation
2. D.C. Trails
3. Beggar’s Bowl
4. City Birds
5. Lucia
6. Dream residue/Work
7. The Pedlar
8. A Thousand Waves

Anyone heard any of the other tracks?

this saturday ~_~