Polvo - Today's Active Lifestyles (Album Review)

 

Polvo - Today’s Active Lifestyles

(1993)


My copy: 2020 reissue with alternate cover by Merge Records.


Polvo’s 1993 record expands upon the band’s layered take on post-hardcore and melodramatic math-rock. “Thermal Treasure” buzzes with sloppy lo-fi guitar before bursting into chaotic drum and bass blasts with plenty of edge for fans of weird punk music. Polvo conjures images of yawning amateur skateboarders with guitars but the actual song structures and writing begs to differ.

There is a wonderfully off-kilter slacker vibe across all of Today’s Active Lifestyles, with almost every song kicking things off with some borderline nonsensical warbled riff that falls right in line when the rhythm section fully drops in. “Lazy Comet” features wobbling drunken riffs that unfurl and threaten to roll right out of your headphones only to be glued into place when the chorus comes around with its slanted syncopation. The vocals are quiet and subdued throughout the whole record, a tragic by-product of the time and genre considering there are good vocal melodies present. 

“My Kimono” is a borderline aimless interlude that has fun guitar lines but opens up a key issue of the record: sometimes the instrumentals just blare away in a random direction and sputter out of control for way too long. The two seven minute tracks on the album follow different philosophies with “Stinger (Five Wigs)” justifying its length with separate movements that are tactfully stitched together while closing track “Gemini Cusp” just drones on and on endlessly. “Stinger (Five Wigs)” sounds like a woozy take on Unwound before becoming the theme to an evil thrill ride that sounds as though it could go off rails at any moment. 

Drums and bass overflow and often build up to unexpected instrumental bridges throughout the whole album, which is generally done well but becomes less effective the more it is repeated. “Tilebreaker” is the most anthemic and easy to sing along to with some breakaway melodies and light melancholy passages. “Time Isn’t On My Side” is the best song, and breaks the textural mold with a quirky digital synth tone that adds more personality to the track. There is a panicked yet fun atmosphere to most of the bent, misshapen guitar lines as if the album is channeling some blissful sense of anxious mania.

“Action Vs. Vibe” is the most traditional punk tune with a breakneck pace and dense bass tones that eventually fade into a bizarre collage of samples and clipping guitar. Today’s Active Lifestyles is mostly a collection of stoned marches that are just a bit too unhinged to play in your average skateboarding montages. The songs will lull you into a sense of serenity before the unusual tempo changes and structures come to smash you upside the head with crazed guitars. This album is solid and a great addition to any collection of weird indie/post-hardcore records but there are times where it just meanders and fails to sonically evolve much, keeping it from being something really special.

Standard reissues of this album are still widely available.


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