AMG Review of Shapes

Tom Schulte
All Music Guide

Succinctly, Shapes is a fascinating record that takes great liberties with rock-n-roll. They combine fuzzed-out blasts ala Blue Cheer with quasi-psychedelic twanging and droning. Being rock dogs more than a little trippy, the unsuspecting listener is liable to be derailed and require debriefing from a Polvo-handler before feeling safe around multi-instrumental rock albums again. Polvo (now defunct) has often shared the stage with Sonic Youth. There is more than a passing resemblance, at times, but Polvo retains more consistent cohesion and turns tighter corners, too. Does that make them a better band or a more unpredictable one? I say predicting that Polvo will be looked on as one of the better bands of the 90s is a safe bet.