Merge looks to conquer the genre of influential indie bands from the 1990's looking to come back in 2009

Alex Young

June 4, 2009 | 11:25am ET

You got to hand it to the folks over at Merge Records. When they decide to do something, such as having their own music festival, they don’t half-ass it. So, we really shouldn’t be surprised to learn that when it relates to Merge’s latest task – reviving indie old timers, they look to be going all out.

On September 8th, Merge will release two brand new studio albums from two of the genre’s more influential, and older acts. First will be Polvo, which returned from a decade long hiatus last year. After hitting the studio earlier this year, the quartet is now ready to reveal its first new effort in 12 years, and leave it to Merge to win the band’s heart (the label recently signed Polvo) and the right to release the eight-track In Prism. Polvo will support the release with a few tour dates this summer, including dates with Obits and an appearance at the aforementioned XX Merge.

Then, there’s The Clean. The band isn’t a new get for Merge – it’s been with the label for nearly a decade, but brothers Hamish and David Kilgour and the rest of the New Zeland outfit haven’t release a brand new album in some time, eight years to be exact. This will changed on September 8th as well, when The Clean shell out a 10-track work called Mister Pop. No tour dates to support the release just yet, but the band has shared the album’s first track, which you can catch below with all the other necessary info.