Staff Picks: Polvo - Today's Active Lifestyles / Cor Crane Secret
For fans of: Twisted guitar-rock / Real 90s
What they're saying: A review from Allmusic.com salutes the unorthodox experimental nature and novelty of Today’s Active Lifestyles, saying “You can listen to it over and over again and still catch new things going on in every song.” And a feature from Indyweek also hones in on Polvo’s immutable oddness; saying they “were too primitive to be math-rock, too cryptic to be rock-rock.” and “were heavy and delicate at the same time, and no one really sounded like that.” The Tiny Mix Tapes blog also heaps praise on Cor-Cane Secret in a review, citing guitars played like sitars, rubberbands, and therimins!
What we say: Merge Records did a great job with the new covers and the extra goods in each of these reissues, other than that it's the Polvo we know and love and they deserve to be revisited and lauded. Truly one of the most unique and interesting products of the indie-rock explosion of the mid-90s.
Further listening: Their last record back in 2013 was pretty damn good, and a little slept on!