Polvo - Today's Active Lifestyles (1993)

Polvo was one of the pioneers of the math rock-genre that emerged alongside post-rock, as both genres were heavily influenced by Slint. What made Slint special, was their 'using rock instrumentation for non-rock purposes' (quoted music journalist Simon Reynolds, that was credited as the 'founder' of the post-rock term), as well as their experimental use of time-signatures and changes in rhythm. The latter influenced math rock.

Today's Active Lifestyles is Polvo's second album, and it's usually regarded as their best. As it should be, it is fantastically clever, bouncing all over and being highly unpredictable, often changing in rhythm and tempo. Overall, it's quite accessible despite its experimentality, which I've found it shares with a lot of math rock; or perhaps it's just extremely interesting music. I'd describe the sound as something ala Battles meets Dinosaur Jr.

Polvo sounds just like I imagined math rock would sound. If you don't know the genre, this album is an excellent introduction.

Today's Active Lifestyles