Heady Cor-Crane

OF course, the name comes from a Mexican household medicine. You knew that already.

What you might not know is that North Carolina's POLVO are bringing a slice of magical mystery to the increasingly predictible US guitar-grappling tour of duty, or that their cavalier disregard for traditional song structures blends splendiferously with some beauteous six-string sorties, walks the precipice between sonic boom and blah before eventually ending up happy ever after.

Perhaps. Time to contact guitar/vocals operative Dave Brylawski for clarification.

"We've been friends for years and had all been playing independently of each other until about two and a half years ago, when we just decided to get together. We started making instrumental electronic music and from then expanded and made actual songs. There was no real motivation behind it, just to do it for our own pleasure. We all listened to different music. The other guitarist and I listen to a lot of Eastern music — Indian music, Asian music — the drummer really likes electronic stuff like Fripp and Eno and the bass player listened to a lot of hard rock. A weird mix. "

Polvo's debut album, Cor-Crane Secret, has just been released over here by Chicago's Touch And Go label, but in the US it bore the Merge imprint, the hitherto singles-only Chapel Hill outfit run by Superchunk's Mac and Laura. Dave and Polvo bassist Steve Popson — guitarist/vocalist Ash Bowie and drummer Eddie Watkins complete the line-up — are high school contemporaries of the 'Chunk mainman and Mac also co-produced the album, but wisely caution those who assume Polvo to be a close relative of Superchunk's punk-pop attack.

"We're pretty ambivalent about this whole North Carolina scene thing. It's not like Manchester, where there was a definite sound with a lot of bands sharing the same backbone, in North Carolina we don't. We're pretty much lumped by location rather than sound."

With bizarre, arcane song-titles — "Kalgon," "Ox Scapula" — heightening the sense of mystery, Polvo have succeeded in marrying their keen yen for experimentation with a desire to stay just within the regular pop confines. Dave reckons they're a lot more palatable than people think, although much more dissonant live — as Babes In Toyland fans can judge when Polvo open for them soon.

"Personally, I like to see a band that doesn't recreate their album onstage," Dave considers. "I'd rather see them wander off a little. And we're too shaky to recreate it, we're not Steely Dan! We do like to jam sometimes, but we don't want to be over-indulgent."

So you're a pop Grateful Dead?

"No, please don't say that! The rest of the band will never talk to me again!"

Keith Cameron
New Musical Express