Pylon - Gyrate + (DFA)

A legendary post-punk band from Athens, GA, PYLON is more than just historically important (an obvious and frequently acknowledged influence on R.E.M., among others; MICHAEL STIPE is one of the liner note contributors here). This is great music, highly original at the time.

VANESSA BRISCOE’s vocals repeatedly shift gears from flat-affect to blurted exclamation, an angular effect perfectly congruent with RANDY BEWLEY’s herky-jerky guitar patterns, MICHAEL LACHOWSKI’s brooding bass lines, and CURTIS CROWE’s off-kilter drum accents. It’s the intensity of Brit post-punk crossed with the playfulness of fellow Athenians the B-52s (FRED SCHNEIDER also contributes to the booklet), plus an obscurantist individualism that seems peculiarly American (that influence on R.E.M. was not only musical but apparently lyrical as well), darkly shadowed but not dour.

This is the first time that all of Gyrate, their 1980 debut LP, has appeared on CD. (The mastering is superior to what was heard on the 1989 compilation CD Hits, which contained all but one of Gyrate’s songs.) “Driving School” and “Recent Title” both occupied the same slot on different editions; this disc has both, all the other tracks, and four additions: their crucial first single, “Cool” b/w “Dub,” an alternate version of “Danger,” and the previously unreleased “Functionality.” Here’s hoping that their second LP, Chomp (containing “Crazy,” their most familiar track because R.E.M. covered it), will also finally appear on CD soon.