1 LP with download
This compilation’s nine tunes – the first seven from the “Can I Ride” double 7-inch EP (1990), the last two from the “Vibracobra” b/w “The Drill” 7-inch – are not quite the sound of a torch being passed, but they were a sign that Sonic Youth’s weird tunings, the hardcore punk and proto-indie rock on SST Records, and R.E.M.’s hazy rock (three big influences on this era of Polvo) were changing lives.
While the band never cottoned to the “math rock” tag (and it’s hard to disagree with them), there is no question that there was a distinct “how can we make guitar rock sound different from all the other guitar rock” vibe going on in the mid-Atlantic coast region of the USA. Indie rock? Not the 2019 kind. Math rock? Eh, not really. This was the sound of a new Southern rock, of a pre-internet guitar storm that looked at what came before and said, “what’s next?”.