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Polvo
Biography
One of the most popular and accomplished bands in the arty, noisy indie rock offshoot dubbed math rock, Polvo touched on many of the style's hallmarks: dissonant, intricately layered guitars that often employed alternate tunings; odd, off-kilter rhythms; an emphasis on dense sonic texture; and unorthodox song structures that, nonetheless, were often unconventionally melodic. Additionally, their music had a pronounced Eastern feel that came not only from the Indian and Middle Eastern-style drones in their compositions, but actual Asian instruments as well; that helped set them apart from other post-Sonic Youth/Slint guitar experimentalists.

Polvo were formed in 1990 in Chapel Hill, NC, site of one of the more fertile and eclectic indie scenes of the '90s. Their lineup consisted of vocalists/guitarists Ash Bowie and Dave Brylawski, bassist Steve Popson, and drummer Eddie Watkins. Bowie and Brylawski met in a Spanish class at the University of North Carolina, and discovered a mutual admiration for both the SST roster and the progressive end of the classic rock spectrum. Despite an erratic live presence at first, the band earned a strong local following and released the seven-song double-7" Can I Ride on Kitchen Puff in 1991 (it was later reissued as Polvo).