POLVO: Shapes

A friend of mine who is a huge Polvo fan recently said to me, "the new Polvo sucks!  It sounds like Led Zeppelin."  Polvo has finally departed from their trademark bendy/angular guitar work and opted for a variety of styles including influences from traditional Indian and Arabic music and acid rock.  This being Polvo's seventh record, it makes sense that they  have finally embarked into new territory, but the result may not sit well with most Polvo fans. For the most part, organ, trumpet, harp, sitar, tamboura, and heavily effected guitars have replaced the intricate guitar interplay, and the interesting time and tempo changes are heard with far less regularity.  The vocals, which stylistically seem to be borrowed from Sebadoh are also more apparent as their previous efforts tended to bury them.  At times, the record  seems boring, but there are some moments that will make you realize how creative this band really is.  The recording is, not surprisingly, exceptional as they employ Bob Weston for the third time. Weston has always managed to capture their sound in an honest manner that is true to their live sound but this time around, there are lots of overdubs which makes it sound more like a studio record.  Although I miss the proverbial Polvo in the new record, I still have six records to listen back to, and its always admirable to hear a band forging ahead with unforeseen sounds.  (Touch and Go, PO Box 25520, Chicago, IL 60625)