Polvo - Today's Active Lifestyles (1993)



Along with Slint, Polvo are one of the pioneering bands of math rock and a big influence on left-field indie rock weirdness in general. Today’s Active Lifestyles is a skewed and dissonant masterpiece that tore apart the indie rock rule book. The album is characterised by unpredictable song structures and arrangements that leave the listener baffled yet intrigued and guitar tunings that sound completely wrong yet so right at the same time. But despite the chaotic and unpredictable racket they still manage to produce some great songs that stick with you, such as the opener ‘Thermal Treasure’, the excellent ‘Lazy Comet’ and the strangely melodic ‘Tilebreaker’. The longer songs, the seven-minute-plus ‘Stinger (Five Wings)’ and ‘Gemini Cusp’, allow the band to experiment even more and dazzle the listener with their chaotic yet wonderfully controlled musicianship and song structures. It sounds improvised at times but strangely enough it’s not.

Their influences aren’t difficult to pick out. Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr. are noticeable influences that come to mind, but you can sometimes pick out a no-wave vibe in their music at times mainly due to the unconventional arrangements and tunings. But Polvo stand out as one of the more original bands of the 90’s and their influence still lives on in today’s music through bands such as Battles. Polvo also reformed a few years ago and released In Prism in 2009, which is also a very strong album and one well worth listening to along with this.

Recommended Songs: ‘Lazy Comet’, ‘Stinger (Five Wings)’, ‘Tilebreaker’


Red House Painters - Red House Painters (1993)



Red House Painters’ 1993 self-titled album, also referred to as ‘Rollercoaster’ due to the album cover and also to distinguish it from their other self-titled album, is a sprawling album that takes the listen on a rollercoaster of emotions (no pun intended). It’s not a very happy album however; it’s an album to wallow in despair to if you allow yourself to be taken along for the ride. The opener ‘Grace Cathedral Park’ is a beautifully bittersweet song but it doesn’t get any more downbeat than ‘Katy Song’, a broken-hearted message to a lost love. It may be a deeply depressing song but it’s just wonderful. The slow and acoustic-based ‘Take Me Out’ also has a feeling of regret and longing that’s heart-breaking to listen to. There are still however some moments of light breaking through with the lively ‘New Jersey’, the swirling and colourful ‘Mistress’ and the somewhat comforting and reassuring ‘Strawberry Hill’, which comes like a break in the clouds near the end of the album after some bleak, heavy and downbeat listening.

One does however feel that the running time is a bit too long and to be honest there are one or two songs that could have been cut from this album. But that certainly doesn’t prevent this album from amazing me every time I listen to it. It’s an album to lose yourself in and find some sort of comfort when you are feeling low, and it does a good job of reassuring you.

Recommended Songs: ‘Grace Cathedral Park’, ‘Katy Song’, ‘Take Me Out’