What would drive me out into a cool and rainy night in Austin, winding down Lamar with some Bali Shag and a cold cup of Espresso?

I want to get my head blown off.

I work in the warehouses now, and every day I am suffering to the tired sounds of classic rock: songs that are 30 years old and sucked back then. I am driving to Waterloo Records to buy a Polvo album. By the time I leave Waterloo, slip in the CD and am back on Lamar I am getting my head blown off. Polvo delivers.

Called out of a 10-year hiatus with an invitation from Austin’s Explosions in the Sky to play All Tomorrow’s Parties London in the spring of 2008, the members stepped away from their various other bands to reunite. After playing a string of shows on the East Coast last summer came the release of In Prism, Polvo’s first album in 12 years.

The album is mature and a solid listen. It leads me to believe that the time off has been good for the band, as various critics have called it the best Polvo record to date. It sounds like Polvo picking it up right where they left off — so has anything changed in the last 10 years?

“I would say that things haven’t changed much since the ‘90s,” says David Brylawski, guitarist and vocalist. “Things are still pretty mercurial. We play some shows with great crowd energy, and we also have played in front of 30 people.”

Considering this independent band’s catalogue and In Prism’s intriguingly melodic and rhythmically-complex sound, I can’t imagine a lack of energy, regardless of crowd size. Polvo’s newest material is heavier, denser: “I still listen to Om and Sleep a lot,” Brylawski says, which may explain the album’s less jagged feel. It’s simpler and more cohesive Polvo, but not dumbed down. In Prism is just as uncompromising and what you would expect from a band formed back in the days when being an indie band still meant that you were an independent one.

“Touring is still getting in the van and showing up and plugging in — and plugging away,” Brylawski adds.

And plug away they will. Just returning to their hometown of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the band will leave for a four-city West Coast tour in a couple of weeks and then move on to Europe.

For now, the band will have to get back to their day jobs as electricians and social workers. And me, too, but I am thankful for this band — as you should be. I’ll suffer eight hours classic rock just to come home, put the coffee on, throw in this disc, and rest assured that independent music is alive and well.
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Jim Trainer is a freelance writer living in Austin, TX. His website is www.jimtrainer.net