Pelvs

PELVs (pronounced "pelv-iss") are an alternative rock band based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Signed to the local independent label Midsummer Madness, Pelvs have released four studio albums ("Peter Greenaway's Surf" (1993), "Members to Sunna" (1997), "Peninsula" (2001) and "Anotherspot" (2006)). Originally a college musical collective featuring well in excess of 50 members, and since featuring a shifting line-up, the core of the outfit remains Gustavo Seabra, the main vocalist,songwriter and guitarist of the band, and Rafael Genú, the bass guitar player.

PELVs have found themselves (by their own admission in interviews) somewhat on the fringes of the Brazilian indie music scene at least in part because of their insistence on singing in English only, and whilst they have had occasional glimpses of possible larger success (opening for Teenage Fanclub, touring France supporting Luna (band) and appearing on MTV Brasil) they have remained largely unfamiliar outside of the Rio music scene for many years. Most recently in mid-2007 hopes that they might become more widely known in Brazil were raised when music from their track "Baby of Macon" was chosen as the backdrop to the Banco do Brasil's "Sustentabilidade BB" national TV advert. This together with widespread touring around Brasil during the latter half of 2007 has meant that their music is finally reaching a wider audience.

History

PELVs original line-up had Gustavo Seabra, Rafael Genú, VRS Marcos (guitar) and Dodô Azevedo (drums). With this line-up, after several demo tapes and shows with other bands in the Rio de Janeiro's indie rock scene of the beginning of the 90's (such as Planet Hemp, Second Come and Beach Lizards) they recorded their first album ("Peter Greenaway's Surf"). This album contained a lot of short intense songs, heavily influenced by punk rock and surf rock influences.

After periods of intense activity intertwined with periods of relatively few appearances, PELVs released their second album ("Members to Sunna"), that featured longer and more elaborate songs. After that album, Dodô and Marcos left the band, the latter to focus on his career as a voice portal developer and his solo electronic music projects, and the former to be able to handle several solo projects, including his own recording studio (where PELVs actually did most of the recording of "Members to Sunna" and the following albums), books, web sites and his DJ career.