| Today's Active Lifestyles | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | April 19, 1993 | |||
| Recorded | December 18–21, 1992 | |||
| Genre | Post-hardcore, noise rock, math rock | |||
| Length | 41:08 | |||
| Label | Merge Records | |||
| Polvo chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| The Great Alternative & Indie Discography | 5/10 [2] |
| Select |   [3] |
| Uncut | 8/10 [4] |
Today's Active Lifestyles is Polvo's second studio album. It was produced by Bob Weston and released on Merge Records in 1993.
Early versions of the cover art featured red tigers in the yellow color field, but these were soon removed due to a copyright dispute raised by Jehovah’s Witnesses. The band reissued the album in 2020 with cover art featuring nothing but similar red tigers, claiming in an interview that the original was all based on public domain artwork to begin with. [5]
The album was released on Merge Records. "Tilebreaker" was released as a 7" single with the song "Chameleon" and the instrumental "Tiara Fetish" on the B-side. ("Tiara Fetish" would later appear, with lyrics, as the song "Watch the Nail" on the Merge compilation 5 Rows of Teeth.)
The album went on to receive mostly positive reviews upon release. Tracy Fey of Allmusic called it "an excellent album with many layers." "Never a band to follow formulaic musical styles," she writes, "Polvo once again shakes things up with its twisted song structures of multiple tempos and intricate, distorted guitars." [1] Gerry McGovern of Hot Press gave the album a very positive review, calling it "a massive album. In the sense that it is sprawling, falling, tipping all over the place." He writes that the album sounds the way "Sonic Youth might if Sonic Youth untuned their untuned guitars." [6] CD Review wrote that the album "has all the credentials for a bona fide indie rock classic." [7] Spin wrote that the "refreshingly potent" album sounds more like a "top-notch Glenn Branca spinoff than a college-rock favorite." [8] A mixed review from Select found the album to be derivative of acts like Dinosaur Jr. & Swervedriver, despite noting its "beguiling rhythmic charm". [3]
The Wire included the album on their year-end "Out Rock-Pop" list. [9]
Under the Radar called the album a "gift" that "explode[s] your mind with inventive guitar work." [10] Dusted Magazine called it "fresh and off-the-cuff". [11] The album is now described by many as being a "landmark" [12] and a "classic". [13] According to Popmatters , the album along with its follow up "found the best balance between [...] assaulting you with bending notes one moment, and soaring over you with crunching anthems the next." [14] Peter Watts of Uncut reviewed the album's 2020 reissue very positively, and hailed the closing track "Gemini Cusp" as a "lo-fi prog masterpiece." [4]
Treble included the album on their list, "Merge Records: 20 Essential Albums". [15] Similarly, Popmatters included it on "Merge's Silver Age: 25 Essential Albums Over 25 Years". [16]
Three Imaginary Boys is the debut studio album by English rock band the Cure, released on 8 May 1979 by Fiction Records. It was later released in the United States, Canada, and Australia with a different track listing as a compilation album titled Boys Don't Cry.
Daydream Nation is the fifth studio album by American alternative rock band Sonic Youth, released on October 18, 1988. The band recorded the album between July and August 1988 at Greene St. Recording in New York City, and it was released by Enigma Records as a double album.
Polvo is an American indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The band formed in 1990 and is fronted by guitarists/vocalists Ash Bowie and Dave Brylawski, with Steve Popson playing bass guitar and Brian Quast playing drums. Eddie Watkins was the band's original drummer, but did not rejoin the band upon its reunion in 2008, after breaking up in 1998.
Sonic Nurse is the thirteenth studio album by American rock band Sonic Youth, released on June 8, 2004, by Geffen Records.
Cursive is an American indie rock band from Omaha, Nebraska. Stylistically described as emo and post-hardcore, Cursive came to prominence with 2000's Domestica and found commercial and critical success with 2003's The Ugly Organ. The band has released eight studio albums, a compilations album, and a mix of singles and EPs since 1997. They have released recordings on several labels, including 15 Passenger Records, Saddle Creek Records, and Big Scary Monsters (UK).
Sister is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock band Sonic Youth, released in June 1987 on SST Records. The album continued the band's move away from the no wave movement towards more traditional alternative rock song structures, while maintaining an experimental approach.
Rounds is the third solo album by British electronic musician Kieran Hebden, released under his alias Four Tet on 5 May 2003 by Domino Recording Company. Wanting to make a more personal record, Hebden recorded and produced the album in his North London flat over ten months using a desktop computer and a home hi-fi system. Its ten tracks feature elements of hip hop, jazz and folk; apart from a guitar part recorded for "Slow Jam", the music is composed from between 200 and 300 samples, many processed beyond recognition.
Tinderbox is the seventh studio album by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was released on 21 April 1986 by Wonderland and Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and by Geffen Records in the United States. It was the band's first full-length effort recorded with then-new guitarist John Valentine Carruthers; Carruthers had previously only added a few parts on the 1984 EP The Thorn. The first recording sessions for the album took place at Hansa by the Wall in Berlin in May 1985.
Y is the debut studio album of English post-punk band The Pop Group. The album was produced by dub musician Dennis "Blackbeard" Bovell at Ridge Farm Studios in Surrey, and was released on 20 April 1979 through Radar Records. It was reissued in 1996 by Radar, 2007 by Rhino/Radar, and in 2019 by Mute Records, including deluxe LP/12" and CD editions with bonus outtakes and live albums, to mark its 40th anniversary.
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.
Cor-Crane Secret is the debut studio album by North Carolina indie rock band Polvo. It was recorded at Duck Kee Studios in Raleigh, North Carolina, and released on Merge Records in 1992.
Shapes is Polvo's fourth studio album and the last album released prior to breaking up shortly after its release. It was recorded by Bob Weston and released on Touch and Go Records in 1997.
Celebrate the New Dark Age is an EP by Polvo.
The Second Annual Report is the debut album by English industrial music group Throbbing Gristle, released in November 1977 through Industrial Records. It is a combination of live and studio recordings made from October 1976 to September 1977. The Second Annual Report is considered to be influential within electronic music, being one of the first industrial music albums.
Prairie School Freakout is the second album by Chicago-based band Eleventh Dream Day, originally released on Amoeba Records in 1988.
Ashley Hideyo "Ash" Bowie is an American musician.
The Story is an English psychedelic folk duo comprising the former Forest member Martin Welham and his son Tom Welham. They write and record melodic songs that range from psychedelic pop to stream-of-consciousness folk and play an array of predominantly acoustic instruments as a backdrop to their blend of vocal harmonies.
Reptilians is the third studio album by the American electronic indie rock band Starfucker. Departing from the light feel of their previous work, Jupiter (2009), the twelve-track Reptilians includes lyrics by Joshua Hodges about death and the end of the world, while musically not sounding depressing. One of the ways these theories are supported is using samples of British-American philosopher Alan Watts in some of the tracks.
Siberia is Polvo's sixth studio album. It was released on Merge Records on September 30, 2013. Unlike its predecessor, 2009's In Prism, the album was not accompanied with a tour.
"Out There" is a song by Dinosaur Jr. written by J Mascis and taken from their 1993 album Where You Been. Notable for its guitar solo and use of chimes, "Out There" was a moderate alternative radio success in the US. Released as a single in Europe, "Out There" charted at number 44 in the UK. The song has since been praised by critics as a highlight of Where You Been.
