Polvo
Siberia
Rock
????
If it wasn’t evident already, Polvo is a Chapel Hill institution. The group’s sixth album is full of the angular dissonance that one has come to expect from the legendary band, but on Siberia it is complemented by a tuneful sense of melody.
The album expands Polvo’s range and reasserts the band as a vital part of Chapel Hill’s proud heritage as an indie rock breeding ground.
For any evidence of Polvo’s undying devotion to Carolina, look no further than singer/guitarist Dave Brylawski’s recent interview with Grantland’s Ian Cohen, where he almost exclusively talks about UNC sports.
But despite this, Siberia gives plenty of reasons why Carolina should be similarly devoted to Polvo.
The band’s unique mix of calculated rhythm and distorted unpredictability that characterizes its entire catalog helped define indie rock in the ‘90s.
Siberia represents a continuation of this heritage. Leading off with the heavy-as-stone “Total Immersion,” the album starts off on a muscular note before heading into the loud-soft duality that dominates the remaining tracks.
The thematic and literal centerpiece of the record is the nearly eight minute epic “The Water Wheel,” which demonstrates a melodic pop sense comparable to Polvo’s Chapel Hill contemporaries Superchunk while still retaining the experimental bent that defines much of the Polvo sound.
The rest of the record is remarkably eclectic as well, spanning the clean string bends and synthesizer touches of “Light, Raking” to the breezy acoustic dirge “Ancient Grains.”
In short, Polvo picks up right where it left off with 2009’s excellent comeback record In Prism, doing exactly what made it great in its ‘90s heyday. Siberia is engaging, unpredictable and demonstrates the mature work of a band who knows exactly who it is.
— James Butler
To get the day's news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.
