Polvo - Cor-Crane Secret (1992)

I could not find any significant connection between Polvo and Neil Young, no quotes, no inspirations, no interview mentions. I guess the loose connection is that Polvo was very influenced by Sonic Youth and there was mutual admiration between Sonic Youth and Neil for sure (especially during the Smell the Horse tour). However, whenever I listen to Cor-Crane Secret, I think immediately of Old Black and the big red board. There's something about the way Ash Bowie and David Brylawski bend their guitar notes that just feels like Neil, despite the songs themselves not really sounding like his songwriting at all. Let's dig in.

Listen to the opening section of “Vibracobra.” The guitars are positively like a hurricane (ahem). Seriously, the notes bend and glide just like Neil’s classic tour de force. The song structure is completely different, but the sounds are right out of his playbook. The pace is also a lot different, approaching the Neo-punk velocity that Neil only played with on songs like "Sedan Delivery," which Polvo's "Kalgon" and "Bend or Break" resemble a bit, complete with slow bridges. That start-stop change of tempo is a hallmark of the "post-rock/math-rock" siloes that bands like Polvo and Slint got lumped into, but Neil was doing it throughout his early career, including on softer songs like "Pardon My Heart." Applied to faster rock music, it's propulsive and dramatic, so it's no wonder Rust Never Sleeps took on that feel in the back half.

"Can I Ride" shows Polvo's more pop side, with a bouncy guitar intro leading into another fast paced song, but it's "Sense of It" where I think Polvo's songwriting works really well. It's foreboding and full of changes, but they always bring it back to the central gritty melody. When the guitar soloing starts midway through, I instantly hear Neil's floating guitar bridges, despite everything surrounding it being completely alien to his playing. It's strange to me that I even consider this to be in the spirit of Neil Young, but I can't get away from it every time I hear this album. A song like "Well Is Deep" is uncharacteristic of Neil in its sound, but when Polvo alternates between pretty guitar lines and harsh overdriven feedback over the intro loping rhythm, I'm put in mind of the way that Neil plays with dichotomies in his songwriting and transcends genres. The ending guitar solo is incredibly inventive, too.

I love the energy and texture of Cor-Crane Secret, particularly the guitar playing. I remember seeing Polvo once and they were massively loud and fun on stage. Over the years, they went further into "math-rock" sound, but I'll always cherish this record for just how bold the sounds are, the audacious of the playing, and that very Neil sensibility of purposeful messiness. The texture and feel is what strikes deep here. And that's really what I wanted to zero in on how with this series. Not bands that sound like Neil, but bands and albums that give me the same feel as when I listen to him. This one does it.