I have written about many of the Shelflife CD-R series releases on the blog. It is a beloved series of 12 CDRs that the American label released between 2002 and 2003 where they introduced a lot of bands that at the time weren’t well known. The first of these releases was from a band called Pololeo. Do you remember it?
I want to say their name comes from the Chilean expression of pololeo which is a colloquial term for a romantic relationship or dating. It refers to the state of having a pololo (boyfriend) or polola (girlfriend). Could it be?
The band’s only release was this CDR. It was titled “Our Town” and came out in 2002 (CD-R Series #001). It was limited to 100 hand-numbered copies and had five tracks, “Malvern Rd.”, “Rhodes Ave.”, “Crosby Rd.”, “Glendale Rd.” and “Aquaduct St.”. Is it a misspelling the last street? Wouldn’t it be aqueduct? Also quite interesting that all songs are named after roads or streets. Maybe it is a real town?
The band was a duo. A married duo. Denise Grollmus who is a journalist, teacher, writer, literary and cultural studies scholar, designer and translator. She has a website. The other half was Patrick Carney. On Discogs there is some more info about him. He hails from Akron, Ohio, and was the drummer of The Black Keys. He was in bands like Blakroc, Churchbuilder, Drummer, Sad Planets and even The Rentals.
This couple would later divorce.
It is also worth noting that not only Patrick was in Churchbuilder, Denise was too. Both of them were in this band that released an album and EP on Shelflife. This is how their relationship with the label started.
I find Malvern Rd and Rhodes Ave. in Akron. Crosby Rd. doesnt exist but there’s a Crosby St. There is also a Glendale Ave. but not a Glendale Rd. Aquaduct St isn’t there either, but Aqueduct St. does exist.
There’s not much more info about the band. I would think they were more of a studio band, and that these were their only recordings. But if you have more info please share!
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Listen
Pololeo – Rhodes Ave.
