Exploded Drawing

Polvo | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 30, 1996)
• Original Release Date: April 30, 1996
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Touch & Go Records
• ASIN: B0000019LM
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #189,220 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars totally sick and brutal \m/ \m/, December 12, 2005

By 

Alberto Novales (nj) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Exploded Drawing (Audio CD)

i've got this album and two other polvo albums: shapes and today's active lifestyles. shapes is experimental and sounds kind of eastern/psychedelic, and today's active lifestyles is just really good. however, i'd have to say exploded drawing is the best album i've heard from polvo. it starts off with fast canoe, which has a really catchy riff and chord progression. bridesmaid's blues reminds me of the kids in the hall theme by shadowy men on a shadowy planet, but this song rocks in it's own way. feather of forgiveness is a favorite of mine, the lyrics sound very personal and bizarre, and he just gets really weird at the end when he starts singing "i wanna cover you with flowers of forgiveness, i want to TOUCH you with the feather of forgiveness, i wanna wash you in a river of forgiveness, i want to wrap you in the fabric of forgiveness, i wanna put you in a LIGHT that will hurt your eyes..."
exploded drawing is not lacking in the exotic riff department, there's plenty of noise and harmonics and wammy bar discord to go around for any indie kid that's into sonic youth, dinosaur jr, or pavement. there are lots of catchy hooks mixed with experimental indie-punk weirdness, which indeed posses a "math" quality in its delivery.
if you like these guys, be sure to check out shudder to think, shellac, helium, unwound, slint, archers of loaf, modest mouse, chavez, and the other bands i mentioned.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BEAUTIFUL WEIRDNESS, August 7, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Exploded Drawing (Audio CD)

if you want to know what someone means when they call a band experimental, throw this here CD into the player and hold on. the lead guitarists use of the slider and chords is so very interesting. it almost sounds as if he's polaying a rubber band the way the notes bend and sway. hypnotic and beautiful. the last song and the first song so beautifully start and end the album with the raw drums and down the hall vocals. i suggest you get it and expand your musical forte'. in the name of the one who made you tick. much peace...enjoy.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars if there can be a quintessential Polvo album, this just might be it., July 28, 2007

By 

Stargrazer "the lost mixtape of my life" (deep in the heart of Michigan) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Exploded Drawing (Audio CD)

"Exploded Drawing" manages to feel like a double album while clocking in just under an hour. All the sculpted dissonance, eastern-tinged wierdness, lulling vocals and sharp left turns that both define Polvo and make them difficult to categorize -- other than as "vaguely Sonic Youth-ish" or "math rock" (a very misleading tag, as it alludes much more to their method than their results) -- are present here, along with an added dose of cathartic maelstrom and... pop structures!? Bluesy workouts?

Usually terms like "poppy" and "bluesy" are red flags that cause me to run screaming, but "Exploded Drawing" stays true to the image its title conjures: conventional structures blown wide open and recombined into intriguing new forms. A great, unforgotten band from the 90s with a bunch of superb EPs and full-lengths, this is a good place to start. The band even frustrates its own "conventions" with off-kilter clockwork rockers like "Snowstorm In Iowa."