Exploded Drawing

Exploded Drawing is the third studio album by the rock band Polvo. It was released in 1996 as a CD and double-LP on Touch and Go Records. The album was engineered by Bob Weston.

For Technical drawing, see Exploded view.
Exploded Drawing
Studio album by
Polvo
ReleasedApril 30, 1996
RecordedOctober 1995
GenreIndie rock, math rock,
post-hardcore
Length58:48
LabelTouch and Go Records
Polvo chronology
This Eclipse
(1995)		 Exploded Drawing
(1996)		 Shapes
(1997)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]
Entertainment WeeklyB[2]
NME(6/10)[3]
Chicago Readerfavorable[4]

Reception

Heather Phares of Allmusic called the album "a sonic journey that encompasses nearly every kind of sound that a guitar has been known to make, and a few that might be unheard of until now." She notes the incorporation of "blues, Eastern music, folk, country, and ambient music" into the album's sound "giving each song a twisting, unpredictable quality", despite criticizing its length.[5] According to Entertainment Weekly's Ethan Smith, "despite Polvo’s ongoing virtuosic use of alternative tunings and time signatures, Exploded Drawing disappoints in one major way: The lyrics — now more audible than on previous releases — are not nearly as interesting as the music deserves."[6] Peter Margasak of Chicago Reader writes that the "foursome has discovered a glimmering netherworld at the intersection of alternate tuning, pop hooks, and off-kilter rhythms" on this album. He wrote that despite "still [operating] around the noise/melody axis much like Sonic Youth [did], the stylistic shadows of that influence seem to be receding."[7]

James Oldham of NME gave the album a mixed review, with most of the review itself focusing negatively on the American alternative rock scene of the 90s from which this album emerged, particularly lo-fi music and slacker culture. He criticized its "fiendish pointlessness" and "utterly indulgent riffery [sic]", despite comparing "the delightfully meandering 'High-Wire Moves'" positively to Pavement.[8]

Legacy

In the years following the band's reunion, the album has been viewed in a more positive light. The Line of Best Fit called it a "sprawling double album [that] expanded the band’s sound from the surgically-focused twin guitar assaults to psych, folk, hardcore and all points in between. It felt like an ambitious mission statement from a group not content to simply dole out the riffs to anyone who wanted them". [9] A Treble review of In Prism found it to "bear the same skill and adventurousness" of this album.[10] Pitchfork called the "epic double-album statement" the band's "critical peak [...] which saw them successfully unraveling their bee-swarm guitar buzz to explore the polarities of their sound, from psychedelic-folk lullabies to brutalizing post-hardcore."[11]

Track listing
  1. "Fast Canoe" – 6:41
  2. "Bridesmaid Blues" – 3:30
  3. "Feather of Forgiveness" – 3:45
  4. "Passive Attack" – 1:12
  5. "Light of the Moon" – 2:12
  6. "Crumbling Down" – 3:06
  7. "Street Knowledge" – 1:51
  8. "High-Wire Moves" – 4:21
  9. "Monoloth" – 2:52
  10. "In This Life" – 4:05
  11. "The Secret's Secret" – 2:03
  12. "Snowstorm in Iowa" – 2:23
  13. "The Purple Bear" – 3:27
  14. "Taste of Your Mind" – 3:50
  15. "Missing Receipts" – 1:47
  16. "When Will You Die for the Last Time in My Dreams" – 11:43

Personnel
gollark: Relativistic kinetic kill vehicles?
gollark: Oh, the Harry Potter character.
gollark: Oh, you're banned from the entire bot.
gollark: I should add ++wish to autobotrobot!
gollark: Only ONE of those things was injokes.

References
  1. Phares, Heather. Exploded Drawing at AllMusic
  5. Phares, Heather. Exploded Drawing at AllMusic
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