Kings Barcade closed almost 3 years ago now. Downtown Raleigh misses it truly but out of its rubble has risen a couple of bands are getting much more attention. Both Polvo and Birds of Avalon (each of which include Kings owners) have released fantastic albums this year. Since announcing they were reuniting and making a new album, Polvo has been making news on everything from XX Merge to Wired Magazine and most recently Pitchfork Media.
Pitchfork has a review today of In Prism, giving it an 8.1 but somehow it (like Megafaun) has missed out on Best New Music on the site. Raleigh’s Bowerbirds received a 7.2 on P4k a couple of months ago for their Sophmore album Upper Air. Somehow Birds of Avalon’s fantastic Uncanny Valley has yet to be reviewed.
Of course, you’d expect a new Polvo album to deliver at least a couple of corkers. But where In Prism truly distinguishes itself—not just as a surprisingly good reunion album, but also as the most immediately satisfying front-to-back album in the entire Polvo catalogue—is in its quieter, headier stretches.
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