Having awoken from several years of dormancy via a request from EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY to partake in their curated gig at this past May’s gig in Minehead (they also partook of the later ATP show in Barcelona as well), POLVO was an unlikely entrant into the ‘what beloved but marginal sales artist would be exhumed’ sweepstakes. Having caught them early in their career, just as their 2×7” debut on Kitchen Puff was out for general consumption ( TIM ADAMS of Ajax certainly helped out a multitude of bands via his mailorder distribution and label work back in the day), this North Carolina-based quartet was best known for their prickly, angular and sideways guitar patterns. They may not have created a new musical alphabet as SONIC YOUTH did, but I’d reckon they constructed a new letter or two.
ASH BOWIE and DAVE BRYLAWSKI were the creative force behind Polvo and sang the songs, so having a reunion without either of them would be a pointless exercise, and bass player STEVE POPSON was also present, driving the low end. New face BRIAN QUAST was behind the kit, and while I don’t want to malign original drummer EDDIE WATKINS, Brian was a noticeably more agile and forceful drummer, a real strong addition to the band’s sound. Opening with “Feather of Forgiveness,” off their penultimate record Exploded Drawing, their distinctive sliding, swerving, and dodging guitar styles were pushed forward, front and center. Ash (who bided some of his post-Polvo time playing in HELIUM and putting out a solo record under the name LIBRANESS) seemed to take the meandering approach, often playing a note just slightly off of what the listener would normally expect, but then later coming to the realization that Ash had it right all along. Dave’s lines were a bit more straightforward, and together they made a slightly queasy, sometimes beautiful, most times powerful mix much like an audio version of moiré, causing the listener to see (in this case, hear) things that might not be present just based on the solo components. This sort of odd guitar interplay was most noticeable in the encore of “Tragic Carpet Ride,” a tumbling disorienting ride down the black throat of chaos. Strong set from the vets, who sounded well-rehearsed and on top of the game; a new song (which sounded fantastic) was tossed into the set, and the rest consisted of their middle period (ie, nothing from discography closer Shapes nor early stuff from the 2×7” or Cor-Crane Secret, whose exclusion also unfortunately meant we missed the undeniably vibrant “Vibracobra,” which after the show I asked Ash and Dave to consider adding to the ATP/NY setlist).
NEW RADIANT STORM KING opened the show, and while it seems guitarist PEYTON PINKERTON gets a bit more recognition (or at least audience members to play in front) these days by playing with both PERNICE BROTHERS and SILVER JEWS, NRSK has been around for close to two decades, occasionally churning out way above average rock, to a seemingly indifferent public. Not many bands can claim that one of the greatest songwriters of our generation was taken enough to record one of their songs as a cover, but ROBERT POLLARD did just that with “The Opposing Engineer Sleeps Alone” on a 1995 single that GUIDED BY VOICES shared with NSRK. Despite some nagging issues with a pedal which cut out occasionally, Peyton and fellow guitarist/singer MATT HUNTER played a set filled with smart, catchy rock. Keep your eyes out this Fall for a new cd. BIRDS OF AVALON were next, and they seemingly plopped straight out of the mid 70s from some smoky arena, to ply the crowd with dual big rock guitar licks (a crowd reference of THIN LIZZY brought scorn from guitarist CHEETIE KUMAR, but I certainly saw the link), mic stand as stage prop, flying hair, and a more than a dose of heavy wah-wah action. Bombastic perhaps, but energy to burn. They displayed that it wasn’t all big riff boogie rock, as a soaring cover of “Armenia City In The Sky” worked perfectly. Besides the regional link to Polvo, the BoA guitarists (Cheetie and PAUL SILER) also did time in THE CHERRY VALENCE with current Polvo drummer Brian Quast.
As always, more photos of all the bands can be seen at my site.
