Bowie and Brylawski met in a Spanish class at the University of North Carolina and shared an affinity for music released by SST Records and local rock band Let's Active.

The band then released two full-length albums, two EPs, and several 7-inches on Merge Records, a label run by Superchunk's Mac McCaughan, a high-school classmate of Brylawski and Popson.

Polvo toured North America numerous times, including outings with Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, Pavement, Superchunk, Pipe, Sonic Youth, Unwound, Trumans Water, Sleepyhead, Trans Am, Dungbeetle, and Spatula.

Their debut for the label was 1996's double-length Exploded Drawing, an eclectic, progressive effort that began to delve more explicitly into the guitarists' fascination with Asian music.

Brylawski moved to New York City to attend graduate school and also traveled to India, while Bowie had already relocated to Boston by 1994 to join then-girlfriend, Helium frontwoman Mary Timony.

Rumors that it would be their final album proved true when they amicably disbanded later that year, ending their farewell US tour with a two-night stand at hometown club Cat's Cradle.

Brylawski later played in the North Carolina–based Indonesian music-influenced band Idyll Swords, which released two albums on Communion, and currently is a member of Black Taj, as is Steve Popson.

Polvo reformed with new drummer Brian Quast, formerly of Vanilla Trainwreck and The Cherry Valence, after being invited to appear at All Tomorrow's Parties 2008 and the Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona, Spain.

[4] The album's release coincided with Merge Records' 20th anniversary, and Polvo were featured at a concert to honor the label at the Cat's Cradle in July.

[10] Complex ranked both Bowie & Brylawski among indie rock's greatest guitarists, writing that the band "built most of their songs around shimmering chords and stream-of-consciousness riffs; whistling Polvo on the bus would make someone look pretty strange.

They sound as if someone stared into space and imagined the strangest guitar-based song possible and then the band tackled – and generally nailed – the unenviable task of performing it.

They include Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz,[9] Mary Timony,[18] Unwound,[19] John Dwyer of Oh Sees,[20][21] Bloc Party,[22] Mark Smith of Explosions in the Sky,[23] Ryan Adams,[24] St. Vincent,[25] Les Savy Fav,[26] Modest Mouse,[27] Dylan Baldi of Cloud Nothings,[28] Brand New,[29] Kyp Malone of TV on the Radio,[30] Johnny Jewel of Chromatics,[31] Dry Cleaning,[32] Conan Neutron & the Secret Friends,[33] Dogleg,[34] Om,[35] The Faint,[36] Lemuria,[37] A Minor Forest,[38] Melissa Auf der Maur,[39] Holy Sons,[40] The Joggers,[41] Leviathan,[42] Faith Coloccia of Mamiffer,[43] The Hair and Skin Trading Company,[44] Alex Edkins of METZ,[45] Pharaoh Overlord,[46] Sean Kirkpatrick of The Paper Chase,[47] Unwed Sailor,[48] Posse,[49] Sorry About Dresden,[50] Pitchblende,[51] Big Ups,[52] Such Gold,[53] Slow Mass,[54] Tift Merritt[55] and many others.