Shapes

Today's Music of the Day is Shapes, by Polvo. I don't think there is any great back story to this album, just that it was for sale in the 'Used CD' section of a local store and I thought it worth $6 to check out the album.

Shapes is an eclectic, post-rock success that was well worth the few dollars I spent for it. There aren't really any tracks to sing along to - the vocals are used sparingly at best - but the tracks all stand alone. That isn't to say that the album doesn't work as a whole, because it does, but rather that the individual tracks each have their own sound. There's guitar all over the place, some horns, it's really tough to keep track.

Most of the tracks are pretty good! The lone exception, "El Rocio", isn't really bad, but it has sort of a melancholy sound without much progression, and goes on for twelve minutes, over twice as long as the next longest track. My personal favorites are tracks five and six, "Downtown Dedication" (easily the standout) and "Pulchritude", respectively. "Rock Post Rock" is also a strong track.

The album is worth a listen if you enjoy instrumental post-rock at all; Polvo's sound here seems to be much less predictable than most post-rock bands, but that's hardly a bad thing. Just don't expect anything poppy and singable here.

In Other News:
Somebody fix my shoulder.