PYLON! C or D?

I haven't listened to it in a long while but I'm sure Pylon's original version of "Crazy" had more of an edge to it than REM's.

I was just glancing at an interview with Roger from Mission of Burma and he said his peers that he liked back circa '82 were Gang of 4 and Pylon.

burma played a few shows with pylon back in the day (and gang of four)

I wanna know if some great post-punk group just flew under my radar.

After Gang of Four, Mission of Burma and Pylon (whom I'd leave out, truthfully), I'd suggest THE POP GROUP, Public Image Ltd. and --- WAIT FOR IT -- early Killiing Joke (up through Revelations).

Magazine and PIL are too dull/somber/grey I'm not on that Joy Division shit. Some PIL songs I've heard are great though.

Maybe these are too obvious, but: I'd go The Embarrasment, ESG, and The Feelies - all from the US. All three of these I prefer to Pylon. I really like The Embarrasment because the world (ie me) needs nerdy midwestern post-punk.

Ah, for an Embarrassment/Pylon/Feelies/ESG reunion bill. At least I've seen the Feelies.

In "Beep," when Vanessa sings "FOUR MINUTES!", I think my sister thought she was singing "VARMINTS!".

would have to put the auteurs on that list.

pylon = classic [funny this thread should come up as i just grabbed "hits" off of ebay.]

Great stuff... ...and not nearly as "fancy" as Let's Active.

gawddammit,may is right ...i meant the au pairs.

My parents saw that tour...R.E.M. were so uninspiring and Pylon so thrilling that everyone here was talking about Pylon for the next month.

http://fairmountfair.com/flagpole/main/articles.php?fp=231
http://fairmountfair.com/flagpole/main/articles.php?fp=230

Don't rock and roll. Don't rock and roll. Don't rock and roll, nooooooo.
NOW ROCK AND ROLL NOW! NOW ROCK AND ROLL NOW! NOW ROCK AND ROLL NOW! NOW NOW NOW NOW!!!

Best comp ever.

Pylon's Gyrate was going to be re-released on DFA records in Fall of 2007.

where in Chicago are you finding Chomp on vinyl so frequently?

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51gy4qA%2BAJL._SS500_.jpg

Out on October 16th on DFA/Astralwerks.

and they said the post-punk revival was over!

I bought that 1990 reunion album recently. It's pretty great!

the added-on ringwear is kinda stupid.

i wonder how many different covers there weree? mine is differnt from the picture below as it has yellow printing on a blue background and a black image.

http://www.hollowearth.org/images/app/pylon.jpg

two different covers, for the two different pressings, afaik.

sure hope it's remastered...

They're plugging it as Gyrate +, so I'm assuming the usual remastered-with-bonus-tracks thing

My vinyl copy was the same color scheme as the DFA reissue pictured above, so that's at least three variations right?

Some of their shows in '04-'05 [there was another earlier in '07] were brilliant. Outdoors at Athfest '05 where they unleashed hundreds of balloons with the pylon symbol on them, and many people were in a total frenzy dancing almost like you see Athenians used to do in the Inside/Out movie; at Popfest later the same summer... Vanessa can still do the most intense vocal parts incredibly well. Truly wonderful to hear her scream.

In October '05, Vaness and Michael Stipe sang "I Love a Man in Uniform" with Gang of Four at the 40 Watt. Cute.

The show in '07 was odd because it was accompanied by rumors that the B-52's were going to play [they were in town recording their new album] which didn't happen. Sean Lennon was in the audience [?].

I have the black and yellow one.

I'm glad they are reissuing it with the Cool/Dub single. I think Dub might be one of my fave songs ever.

They're plugging it as Gyrate +, so I'm assuming the usual remastered-with-bonus-tracks thing

1. Cool
2. Dub
3. Volume
4. Feast On My Heart
5. Precaution Listen
6. Weather Radio
7. Human Body
8. Read a Book
9. Driving School
10. Recent Title
11. Gravity
12. Danger
13. Working Is No Problem
14. Stop It
15. Danger
16. Functionality

Just skimmed a review of it in MOJO by, I think, Peter Buck. Looking forward to picking it up!

yeah, do that! The different covers above probably because there were two slightly different versions: the second had "Recent Title" in place of "Driving School," but as you can see in the track list up there, both are on this, with the single sides killing in front, and the finale, "Functionality, " is prev unissued. My review'll be in Voice soon. (Anybody heard the Method Actors, also from late 70s/early 80s Athens, right?)

Yep, I quite like the Method Actors, as does fellow ILM poster Dan Selzer.

Outdoors at Athfest '05 where they unleashed hundreds of balloons with the pylon symbol on them, and many people were in a total frenzy dancing almost like you see Athenians used to do in the Inside/Out movie; at Popfest later the same summer..

I think my back is STILL feeling the impact of dancing like a madman on the paved surface of Washington Street. I WAS THERE! much more importantly: THEY WERE AWESOME! Just like every time. What a fantastic band...

liked their singles but when I saw them live in 1981 it was pretty underwhelming IIRC. maybe a bad night?

now Love Tractor, there's the great lost Athens band.

ugh, Love Tractor. The loster they are, the better.

I used to know Love Tractor's bass player, Armistead Wellford.

What was that one song they were famous for, Love Tractor? Damnit I can't remember it now.

they were great until they started singing.

Here's my Gyrate Plus review. Not exactly deathless prose, but it gets the word out, incl. re upcoming NYC show:
http://www.villagevoice.com/0742,allred,78085,22.html

erk, now you see it, now you don't (link *was* working). For now, might just check villagevoice.com/music

Ah, speaking of "music", D'oh! I left that word out---this is the full link, working or not:
http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0742,allred,78085,22.html

the added-on ringwear is kinda stupid.

I thought that too at first, but now that I have the actual CD, the cover is actually a photograph of an old LP. Still a bit silly (I mean, it wouldn't be that hard to recreate the album art from the separate elements, jeeze) but at least the marks weren't added on for effect.

but sometimes with a reissue it's fun to show that history, whether it be ringwear, or the old tapes or whatever.

Anyway, you wouldn't have to recreat the art, just retouch it. Either way it would've been easy.

The cover to the Acute release of Glenn Branca's the Ascension was a painstakingly retouched composite of two well-aged copies of the original LP.

Do you know why I sold the CD? Because I must have been on crack, that's why.

Yeah but I've still got the crucial vinyl records on that, so...

No wonder you don't get Alice Cooper.

Ha! Fuck you! A friend I've had for ten years just GAVE me the fucking Mascara & Monsters CD last weekend. Yeah, that's right he just GAVE it to me. I have it on my iPod now but unfortunately no I have not listened to it yet. Give me time.

This song triggers some really hard realizations for me, In a lot of ways I see myself as that Killing Joke.

Hahaha! Amen to that!

Just wanted to let everyone know (and yes, shameless self promotion as I am the program director at WNYU) that Pylon will be headlining our 35th Anniversary concert tomorrow night at the Knitting Factory. Psychic Paramount, Grouper, Christmas Decorations, Halflings, Starkey, Zola Jesus, and Ehnahre are also playing. Come down and say hi!

This is in NYC obviously.

Cool, goddamnit. Cool:

POST PUNK PEOPLE GET ON BOARD NOW

I wonder if I could still be so into performing a song I wrote almost 30 years ago as Vanessa is.

Amen.

Dan Selzer? You out there? What would YOU say about Pylon?

R.E.M. did a cover of "Crazy".

You can't even compete.

I like Pylon. Can't say they're my favorite thing ever. I like REM, the B-52s and the Method Actors better.

Thanks Dan Selzer. Pleae call me on the phone someday

Method Actors were very cool, post punk wise.

'The Method' is a classic. I always think it's Billy Ray Cyrus on the cover though.

Get well soon!

Pylon guitarist Randy Bewley suffered a heart attack while driving in an Athens neighborhood and is in the cardiac intensive care unit at Athens Regional Medical Center, bandmate Vanessa Hay said in an e-mail to supporters.

Bewley was driving on Barber Street on Monday evening, and his van drifted off the road and tipped over, Hay said.

Rescue workers treated him at the scene and took him to ARMC.

Shit... (reposting from http://athensmusicjunkie.blogspot.com/ Twitter stream at http://twitter.com/blueshades )

My thoughts and prayers to Randy Bewley's family and friends. We have lost a great man and dear friend in Athens tonight.
20 minutes ago from web

@Pampelmoose Randy Bewley died shortly before 5 pm. We have lost a dear friend in Athens today.
about 1 hour ago from web

@Pampelmoose Heart attack was on Monday morning, family and band with him now. Planning to take him off life support this afternoon.
about 4 hours ago from web in reply to Pampelmoose

Man, RIP. I only ever finally heard Gyrate in full quite recently and was astounded at just how fantastic it was. A damn shame.

My God! What?! Way, way too young. One of my favorite guitar players EVER. I always feel ineffectual posting "RIP" on a message board, but...

Rest in peace Randy.

So sad. A nonpareil guitarist. RIP.

Fuck. Such a great guitar player, in such a great band. RIP.

So sad. He had such a great sound. I will treasure my memories of seeing them live back in the early '80s and dig out my vinyl.

:-( RIP

God, this is terrible. I only got a chance to hear Pylon after the DFA reissue, so I can't claim any deep connection with them, but it sounds like Bewley was a great guy. Nobody deserves to go that young.

It's hard to overstate how well loved this band is in Athens. RIP and condolences to his friends and family.

Amazon listing confirms DFA are reissuing Chomp (as Chomp More) on October 20.

awesome

gyrate plus is one of my favourite reissues of the last few years

Recently found Gyrate in the stacks at the community radio station. Fantastic!

Amazon listing confirms DFA are reissuing Chomp (as Chomp More) on October 20.

And on eMusic today. Pylon's Crazy is a force of nature.

Well, upon listening to Chomp today for the first time in many years, all I can say is . . . "eh." It's clear they couldn't write songs. I'm crazy about "Crazy," but it's more an accident the way it (sort of) hangs together than anything else. There are a few interesting little nuggets on Chomp, but it's clearly a weaker record than the debut album, which in itself was pretty limited. They had a cool sound, but they didn't know what to do with it after a while, they didn't evolve much, and Vanessa's vocals start to grate, as she can't really sing and the yelping / barking / grwoling / Lene Lovichist stuff wears thin. All of this would have been more forgiveable if they band actually had something to *say* - but the lyrics aren't much and don't convey any point of view beyond, "it's new wave! time for spastic dancing!" This is the band that jocks were grasping for when they saw you in your punky clothes and badges and, for lack of anything more accurate, yelled "Devo sucks!"

It's clear they couldn't write songs

Maybe not in a Brill Building or Gershwin sense, but "Cool" and numerous others all sound uniquely penned to me.

but the lyrics aren't much and don't convey any point of view beyond, "it's new wave! time for spastic dancing!"

That's fine with me. Not every group should sing about politics or life in Compton or Athens or whatever you are defining as "something to say".

Yeah really, they have some great lyrics! This is one of those bands where it's all about delivery, if you're not into her vocal style I understand that it all leaves you cold but, I mean, "Iyyeat DUB FOR breakfUUUUST!", so great.

My favorite is "Stop It." Coincidentally, there's a scene in Motherhood where Uma Thurman as dowdy housewife rocks out and jumps around to this song.

No no rock and roll, no no no no no!

HEY.... KIDS!!!!!

Just hearing them for the first time. How come noone recommended them to me before!? They are amazing. Singer Vanessa Briscoe reminds me of Debbie Harris and Patti Smith and seems to have been a heavy influence on Karen O.

better late than never though hey!

Not sure I hear Deborah Harry in her voice, but yes they are/were amazing.

Oops, you said Debbie Harris (whom I do not know).

I played The Human Body on the radio last night. Sounded very good.

Debbie Harris, lead singer of tribute band Bootleg Blondie?

http://www.bootlegblondie.com/PROMO/promo.html

lol no, sorry I actually meant Deborah Harry

i've been listening to pylon over and over and over and over again the last week or so. esp. "Working is No Problem" i'm dying for good footage of them back in the day. is there anything besides the stuff in athens inside/out?

the part where she goes "just as long, as i keep my miiIIInnd!" is like Mick Jagger but so much better.

You've probably seen this, from 1981:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyCWgGhG00o

Saw them live back then 2 or 3 times and they were all great gigs

Been really getting back into these guys lately, Gyrate is just so so so so great.

AlexinNYC has had a lot of questionable opinions in the service of his posting persona, but man, those upthread take the cake

Saw them open for the Wonder Stuff once. And they played a whole set. Much to the chagrin of both the `Stuff and the crowd. There was almost a riot as a result. Fuck Pylon.
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, January 18, 2004 8:39 PM (8 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Imagine a testicularly-challenged Gang of Four with Flo from "Alice" on vocals.
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, January 18, 2004 8:45 PM (8 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Ha

he really wanted to see the 'Stuff

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e5/Stuffffffffff.jpg

Danny Aiello!!! Garrett Morris!!! I need to see that.

I actually like the odd Pylon tune (notably "Crazy"), but having them open for the Wonder Stuff was a bad idea.

Not sure where to put this, but my friend just completed her MA Thesis in Southern Studies. It's this documentary about Southern Underground Music from 1978-1990.

http://vimeo.com/40600465

Featuring interviews with people from Pylon, Let's Active, The Judy's, The dBs, Carnival Season, Windbreakers, The Squalls, and the Germans.

Thanks for the link, that's a great documentary. I really like the way it puts the B-52s, R.E.M., and Athens into the context of other Southern DIY scenes. It's good to see some of that history acknowledged and recorded.

sweet, that looks great! will watch soon.

Me too. Thanks!

Enjoyed it but she doesn't ask Vanessa about their go4 postpunk guitar style, while several others talk about their love of Big Star

Nice! As if to back up the title's accuracy, neither Shazam or Soundhoud could identify the first song played. What is it?
And what is all that stuff floating around Mitch Easter?

Here is an article about the Jackson scene as discussed in the film http://www.oxfordamerican.org/articles/2011/nov/21/noise-our-own/
and here is one side of the single by one of the bands
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXYpnxmRXtc
Kinda wish I liked it more

Jazzbo: Friend said the first track is "You Gotta Go Away" by the Windbreakers.

Thanks much!

yeah, the xpost Vimeo thesis sure packs a lot of clarity into 35 minutes. And so many non-academic music docs have just as much talk over music, without a grade's requirements to justify the ratio. The participants aren't kidding about the indie DIY conditions: back in the 80s, I rode past Mitch Easter's parents' already-consecrated home, where Murmur was recorded in the garage ("next to the Purina bags," I was assured). Let's Active's Sara is still drumming with her brother Dex, ex-Flat Duo Jets ( FDJ's in that rustic doc, Athens Ga Inside Out). They're biilled as the Dex Romweber Duo, she should have her name in there too. His songwriting has its slumps, but they delivered a fairly good mini-set on WXPN's broadcast/Webcast Non-Comm series last week (might be archived). She's always crip, he's the one with the moody atmospheric ups and downs. I really enjoyed the pre-DB's/Let's Active Sneakers' energetic '06 collection, Nonsequitur of Silence, and lots of unissued sets from the dB'sverse, some of them involving Chilton, have been posted here http://dbs-repercussion.blogspot.com/, to whet our chops for the new dB's album, out in a couple weeks.

She's always "crisp," Ah meant to say!

Oh, and Nonsequitur of Silence is not a boot, it is or was out on Collector's Choice, "curated by Chris Stamey," sez here.

Murmur wasn't recorded there (they used a bigger studio in Charlotte), but Chronic Town was.

O that funky tourguide! I wuz robbed!

Still wanna get the Method Actors reissue on Acute--how is it?

http://www.mbvmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/the-method-actors-cover-art.jpg

It's really great, a rather singular band! Pick it up, you won't be disappointed.

yeah, the xpost Vimeo thesis sure packs a lot of clarity into 35 minutes

I enjoyed it but it seemed more hit and miss to me. I do not think it covered that well how deciding to form a punk/postpunk/alternative/ new wave/power pop whatever band in the South differed from elsewhere in the US (and as I mentioned above it did not get into the origins of Pylon's guitar sound, which was not Big Star rooted like the others in the doc)

Felt pretty much the same way tbh, but didn't want to be a curmudgeon about it, so I left that to you

Ha

RE Pylon's guitar sound, Gang of Four released their debut EP 12/78, debut LP 9/79. Pylon was already playing their first shows in spring of 79. Unless they were first on their Athens block with the import EP, I tend to think they created their own sound based on their own abilities/limitations, and absorbed the influence of Gang of Four a bit later. (Unlike that clip by The Germans, which I actually love but is a pretty blatant Go4 copy.)

This early Pylon demo (actually 1979, not 1980 as the youtube is labelled) shows Randy Bewley working out his guitar chops.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYYNM4WLLXY

interesting

Thanks by the way, Gukbe, for posting that doc. Maybe not earth-shattering insights, but it did give a good feel to what being "alternative" in the small town South meant; as opposed to NY or LA or Austin, or even Minneapolis where I lived through that 70s/80s scene, I think being in that kind of a band in, say, Mississippi, must have felt like being some sort of urban pioneer.

I've repped for the book Party Out Of Bounds by Rodger L. Brown elsewhere, but it delivers similar memories of Athens in the new wave era.

Yeah, that's a good read! A little too nostalgic and wide-eyed in places but I forgive that because it captures the vibe correctly. The author once contacted me with a very nice friendly email after I posted a review on Diaryland, too!

Newly unearthed video:

Danceteria, 1980

YES

THANK YOU

wow, that was exactly what i was hoping for. good sound quality, close to the stage, one of my favorite pylon songs...

i really wish someone would post a whole show like that!

I wonder how much of that show was filmed.

Just got chills watching. So so so great. Randall Bewley is one of my favorite guitarists of all time, his dub effects on this are unlike other versions I've seen/heard.

First comment on the vid is from their bassist.

Indeedio, thanks for this. The current dB's album, Falling Off The Sky, is pretty good too, and just got this press sheet:

CHRIS STAMEY’S NEW RELEASE, LOVESICK BLUES,
DUE OUT FEBRUARY 5, 2013

dB’s founder, esteemed songwriter and Southern alt-pop godfather
hits a creative high with intimate, expansive new set

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Lovesick Blues is Stamey’s first full-length release since A Question of Temperature, his 2005 collaboration with Yo La Tengo. The new album follows on the heels of Falling Off the Sky, the long-awaited, much-acclaimed reunion album of the dB’s, as well as Stamey’s involvement as musical director and orchestrator for a series of all-star concert performances of Big Star’s classic Third album in New York, London, Austin and Carrboro, NC.

While his prior work has established Stamey as an incisive songwriter, compelling performer and innovative sonic architect, Lovesick Blues finds the artist staking out some new songwriting territory, with inspired results. Such vividly forthright new tunes as “Skin,” “London,” “Wintertime” and “I Wrote This Song for You” deliver bittersweet, personal lyrics and inventive acoustic arrangements that employ strings, woodwinds and vocal harmonies to evoke the songs’ emotional landscapes.

Those intimate numbers are balanced by more upbeat tunes like the vibrantly jangly "Astronomy" and the playful road-trip memoir "You n Me n XTC." Another highlight is the poignant late-night torch song "Occasional Shivers," which Stamey first recorded as the B side of a limited-edition Christmas single in 1986. The album's musical and thematic centerpiece is the seven-minute "Lovesick Blues," dedicated to the late North Carolina guitar great Sam Moss, and encompassing solitary late-night heartbreak, sweeping orchestral drama and redemptive uplift.

The resulting album is a landmark for Stamey, balancing his new songs’ unfiltered emotional honesty with the effortless melodic craft that’s always been a hallmark of his work.

“I wanted to make a record that could make you feel less alone, like someone else has been there before you,” Stamey explains. “I was thinking about records like The Ballad of Todd Rundgren and Nick Drake’s Bryter Layter and Robert Wyatt’s “At Last I Am Free” and Richard Thompson’s Small Town Romance. Those are all records that were a source of comfort to me at various points in my life. They were records that seemed to speak one-on-one, records that weren’t trying to sell you anything. It’s that old saw about the blues being sad yet making you feel better. None of the songs on Lovesick Blues are traditional three-chord blues, but some of them speak that same emotional language.”

Like the recent dB’s album, Lovesick Blues was birthed at Modern Recording, the small yet technologically advanced Chapel Hill studio that Stamey has operated for the past two decades, where he’s produced recordings by the likes of Whiskeytown, Alejandro Escovedo, Flat Duo Jets, Le Tigre and Tift Merritt. The Lovesick Blues sessions found him handing the production reins to fellow North Carolina musician/producer Jeff Crawford, who’s also a solo artist and a member of the band the Old Ceremony. The album also draws upon the talents of the Fellow Travellers, a core group of musically literate young players from the Chapel Hill area who participated in the Big Star concerts, as well as members of the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra.

“I wrote most of the songs during one two-week period,” Stamey explains, adding, “I’d wake up early and go into a room where the light was good and write a song every day. Then I played them for Jeff, and we picked the ones that seemed best for the way we wanted to record. On most of the songs, we first did live takes, with me playing guitar and singing at the same time. Then we’d orchestrate them, adding the string and wind and vocal colors that we thought were needed to underline the meaning of the songs. In the process, I added a couple of older songs, ‘London’ and ‘Occasional Shivers,’ which seemed to make sense for this album.”

Some unexpected but helpful input arrived in the form of XTC’s Andy Partridge, who entered the picture after Stamey invited him to make a vocal cameo on “You n Me n XTC.” Partridge declined the offer, but ended up getting involved in the project anyway, offering some key production, arranging and mixing suggestions via transatlantic email.

“He didn’t like the repetitive chords of ‘You n Me n XTC,’” Stamey admits. “It was only after I played him the other songs that he started getting really into it. He became a long-distance safety net for us; Jeff and I would send him mp3s of songs in progress and he’d write back with very detailed, specific suggestions. It was like having an exceptionally intuitive Ouija board, and it really enlivened the process.”

Growing up in Winston-Salem, Stamey made his earliest ventures into recording with a series of homemade avant-garde experiments with future Let’s Active leader Mitch Easter during grade school, then studied formal composition at UNC-Chapel Hill before starting the obscure but ultimately influential Sneakers. Stamey launched his own pioneering indie label, Car Records, in 1976, and the following year moved to New York, where he played bass with Alex Chilton before forming the dB’s.

The dB’s recorded a pair of albums, 1981’s Stands for Decibels and 1982’s Repercussion, that remain indie-pop landmarks. Stamey then departed for a solo career, turning out a series of smart, musically adventurous gems including It’s A Wonderful Life, Instant Excitement, It’s Alright, Fireworks, Travels in the South and the holiday-themed Christmas Time. His catalog also includes a pair of duo albums with Peter Holsapple, Mavericks and Here and Now, as well as the experimental instrumental departure The Robust Beauty of Improper Linear Models in Decision Making, a collaboration with guitarist Kirk Ross, and A Question of Temperature, on which he was backed by longtime friends (and early production clients) Yo La Tengo.

Having recently wrapped up a round of rocking live shows with the reunited dB’s, and energized by the understated intensity of his new solo effort, Stamey is planning on bringing Lovesick Blues to the live stage with an acoustic chamber-pop format, touring on his own and calling on local string players and harmony singers to play the notated arrangements.

By embodying the qualities that have always been at the heart of his work, while introducing some vital new elements to the mix, Lovesick Blues demonstrates that, after a lifetime of music-making, Chris Stamey’s flame still burns as brightly as ever.

“I’ve been very lucky to have been around a lot of great, creative musicians in my life,” he states, adding, “I still learn things all the time from them, and I know that I still have a long way to go. But I think this is the closest I’ve gotten on record to expressing what is unique about what I do, the part that’s been there all along.”

# # #

x-post. Seeing that Pylon live at Danceateria video reminded me of when I saw Pylon in NYC a year or so later at a New Music Seminar associated event. Most of the folks there were too cool to even nod their heads.

I didn't realize Chomp didn't come out until 1983; seems more like '81 in my memory. Saw them on that tour, and danced like a dervish.

Someone came up to me and my friends at that NYC gig when they saw us dancing, and said, "You must not be from here." I also saw them in DC opening for GO4 and later in 83, opening for U2.

what was that like in 83, opening for U2? Watching the Athens, GA Inside/Out documentary, that tour seemed to be a turning point where Pylon collectively got freaked out by what they were doing, the bigger audiences, didn't seem like it was "fun" anymore, etc.

Yep, before several thousand people at University of Maryland Richie Colesseum, where I had once seen the Clash. Most of the crowd was not interested in Pylon, and the acoustics in that cement gym were not that good either. I interviewed Pylon afterwards and it was going to go in my fanzine but for some reason, it never did. Somewhere I still have the transcript sitting in a box I think.

PLEASE POST IT

i have pylon fever in 2012, you have to help me

My absolute favorite:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oyca-sGEoZE

Manages to be both a little scary and a hell of a lot of fun.

Yeah, I have that 10 inch as a 12 inch. It has the longer, dubbier version of "Danger."

Somewhere online, Randall B.'s U2 experience: "It was like opening for Jesus Christ." Not meant as a compliment. Also said that when they told their manager or label rep they were dropping out of the tour, he indicated they better think about their priorities. So they did, and dropped out of showbiz.

Haven't watched this yet but it sounds good (1 hour).

Pylon at 40 Watt Club 2005

I was at that show! If it's as good as I remember you're in for a treat. Looking forward to watching the synchronized guitar poses.

nickn, thank you! I need to watch this when I'm not at work. Previewed the first bit,and while Vanessa's less feral twenty-some years down the line, this sounds great.

Pylon's farewell performance (the first time around) was filmed at the time, and I've never seen any of that surface.

"Feast On My Heart," starting at 42:20, has the great guitar poses. Thanks for linking this.

Okay, I'm 11 minutes in and retract what I said about "less feral." It just took her a bit to get warmed up!

Young Doctor Casino, trying manfully to hit on Vanessa's daughter: "Your mom's band was totally awesome last night!"

http://www.madmuseum.org/events/new-wave

Pylon in NYc circa late 70s early 80s footage, among many other bands, showing April 18th and April 24th

Described by the New York Times as, “The Lewis and Clark of rock video”, video artists Pat Ivers and Emily Armstrong spent their nights from 1975-80 documenting the burgeoning punk scene in nightclubs around New York City. Ivers and Armstrong were acutely aware of the significance of that era and their material captures the sprit of the time. The edited results were shown on their weekly cable TV show NIGHTCLUBBING

http://www.gonightclubbing.com/

I need to bring a showing to DC

New Interview with Vanessa.

http://punkglobe.com/vanessabriscoehayinterview0315.php

Interesting even if some of the questions are not the best ("the new wave sound")

http://flagpole.com/blogs/homedrone/posts/yes-that-was-a-pylon-song-in-that-lexus-commercial

Commercial was mentioned on this other Pylon thread

PYLON

I hadn't actually seen it yet, the music works very well.

Also, 2 record live album is great news, and the line "someone with major post punk band mastering experience" made me smile for some reason.

"first final show" also made me smile, haha. i didn't know about the live album, i think they buried the lead there

Briscoe is quoted by xpost Flagpole re live double album, on *vinyl*, so OK, I give up: what kind of turntable should I get, for plugging into wall and listening on headphones (I'm told USB turntables are garbage, true? Speakers wouldn't be cool in this household)(yes there are turntable threads, but I want to know what Pylon heads think)

(a live single for April in Amazon MP3 store, so alb may not be vinyl-only)

update:

If you're not familiar with PYLON, they were contemporaries of The B-52's and R.E.M. in the Athens, GA scene in the early 80s -- this new double live album documents their incredible last show in 1983. DFA also reissued their two studio albums back in 2007 & 2009. They also released a split single with Deerhunter in 2011 where they covered each other's songs. This live album captured them at their peak as a band, absolutely essential for any post-punk fan.

PYLON - Live
Street Date, July 25th, 2016, Chunklet

"(PYLON) stands as shockingly modern and unparalleled these many years later.”
-Michael Stipe, R.E.M.

“PYLON is still my favorite Athens band, in fact, one of my favorite bands!”
-Fred Schneider, The B-52s

“Randy Bewley and Michael Lachowski’s simple lines display untoward rhythm and melody, respectively. Curtis Crowe bangs away so obdurately it’s hard to understand why he didn’t become rich. Vanessa Briscoe Hay barks and brays whatever incantatory phrases seem called for. Timeless. Cool.”
-Robert Christgau, Dean of American Rock Critics

1983 was a banner year for PYLON. The Athens quartet released their second album, Chomp, on Atlanta-based DB Records, toured the country extensively, and played several opening slots for then-up-and-comers U2. And then, without a hint of explanation, they quit.

Their final show at the Mad Hatter in Athens, Georgia, was, as was always the case, a frenzy of minimal disco thud, post-punk guitar scree, and deliriously inspired howl. Oh, and dancing – always dancing – both in the crowd and on stage. The gig was recorded (both audio and video) for a failed PBS pilot called Athens Shows, and the tapes were put away and forgotten. That is, until now.

Around three years ago, after PYLON’s DFA reissues hit the street, Chunklet CEO (and card-carrying member of the PYLON Fan Club) Henry Owings emailed the band bemoaning the lack of bonus material on the CDs(meaning "previously unreleased," I take it, since Gyrate Plus and Chomp More do add singles, prev album-ized only on Hits) which sparked a larger conversation. “My favorite PYLON is live PYLON,” said bassist Michael Lachowski, with which Henry wholeheartedly agreed. Following a cordial sit-down at Michael’s apartment over the New Year’s holiday of 2015, an exhaustive search began for live recordings by PYLON. More specifically, live recordings from Athens in the early ’80s. Oh, and that sounded as good, if not better, than their proper full-length albums.

Numerous dead ends followed, but finally, and somewhat fittingly, the multitrack recordings of PYLON’S final performance at the Mad Hatter in 1983 were unearthed. Once the tapes were transferred and subsequently mixed, the explosive and compelling sounds raised one very significant question: Why in the world did PYLON quit?

For a band whose legacy, in their original incarnation at least, was two full-length albums and a handful of singles, PYLON were first and foremost a live band who weren’t as interested in working in a studio. PYLON’s raison d’être was performing for a crowd, and now there’s conclusive validation.

PYLON LIVE is a double vinyl album recorded on the band’s home turf at the culmination of their powers, and the results could not be more stellar. An all killer, no filler set with nothing left on the cutting room floor, PYLON LIVE includes powerful versions of the PYLON canon from their first and second LPs and even the hard-to-find song “Party Zone” (previously available only on a DB Rec comp) and their never-before-released rendition of the “Batman Theme.”

When compared to the band’s prior body of work, PYLON LIVE bookends all of it; some might even say it’s a better representation of this Athens quartet, who thrived on bouncing around on stage infinitely more than sitting in a studio.

There’s little arguing that the Athens powerhouse trifecta of R.E.M., the B-52’s, and PYLON is peerless. And while all three bands have achieved great critical acclaim, only the first two had the commercial acclaim they deserved. PYLON LIVE intends to correct that.

Limited to 200 on magenta vinyl.
Limited to 200 on clear vinyl.
Unlimited on black vinyl.[
(also as downloads, maybe CDs)

Track List:

SIDE A
Working is No Problem
Driving School
No Clocks
Altitude
Gravity

SIDE B
Crazy
K
Cool
Italian Movie Theme
Buzz

SIDE C
Danger
Reptiles
Stop It
Feast On My Heart
Beep

SIDE D
M Train
Volume
Weather Radio
Party Zone
Batman

PYLON REENACTMENT SOCIETY TOUR DATES:

07/29 Atlanta, GA – The Earl
07/30 Athens, GA – 40 Watt

Listening now. Haven't heard a lot of their shows, but clear sound, music's cool & rough, not too dry, best for dancing, incl. vs. and with "Gravity": "Yew can't. Yew can't." Yes I can! Bumping into counts.

dizzy among "Reptiles," drawn into wet tunnel of pedals & bass

The gig was recorded (both audio and video) for a failed PBS pilot called Athens Shows

WANTWANTWANT VIDEO!

They have three studio albums, dagnabit!

Funny, all these years, I've been remembering a genius track on the Athens, GA: Inside/Out soundtrack, Golden as being Pylon and remembering/forgetting to search it out. Searched and now find it was Dreams So Real. Only available on the soundtrack and a bootleg cd comp Discogs lists.

I need to hear this

the live Pylon album and the Dreams So Real track

ooooh, i always forget i have a copy of inside/out, it gets buried down in the soundtracks/comps. will pull that out for today's listening, thanks.

Report back to us on that, please.
They have three studio albums, dagnabit! Yep, and Chain is worthy, but the press release is all about hyping Phase One: this is "the last show" until reuniting and it sure felt goood.

dizzy among "Reptiles," drawn into wet tunnel of pedals & bass On headphones, now think they're all fingers, fingers, fingers

Good interview--- maybe source for the press sheet's backstory of Pylon Live, but other good bits too, like debunking the source of their name, also another name they considered. w visual deal, both still worth another band/solo artist's consid:
http://www.eldredgeatl.com/2016/07/01/art-punk-perfection-deerhunters-bradford-cox-interviews-pylon/

Vanessa & Michael make a mixtape of early 80s Athens bands, comment on 'em too---some deep out-of-catalog listening here:

http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/2016/07/22/pylon-a-sonic-reminiscence-of-1980s-athens-ga/

Yep, remember the names of many of those groups (the Squalls, etc.) but not the songs

Interview with Vanessa and Michael
http://observer.com/2016/07/americas-other-best-band-pylons-brilliant-punk-minimalism-lives-on/

Nice. I remember them opening for U2 at the U of MD in 83, and eventually I will find the never published interview I did with them then that was going to go in my fanzine's next issue, but we ended the zine before that could happen.

The dancing crowd shots in that Side Effects footage make me so nostalgic. That's how I spent my early 20s too.

Saw Pylon Reenactment Society the other night. The band is not quite Pylon, but they re-do the tracks pretty well, and Vanessa still powerfully switches between her screetch and a more melodic tone

In addition to the Reenactment Society tour, the Pylon Live in 83 album is out, music from "Cool" is in a Lexus commercial, and they're namedropped by young hip Baltimore post-punk artist Sneaks (recently signed to Merge)

PRS is touring again this summer.

http://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/2018/06/12/pylon-reenactment-society-tour-dates/

Chomp More disappeared from Apple Music! Gah.

Spotify too. Main thing left seems to be live album

Chomp More was on DFA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_3sPmTRsFs

live 1981

thank yoouuuu

every time this thread is revived i hope it's with footage like that

haha, were bewley and lachowski toying with the idea of coordinated stage dancing during that era? (see 7:10 in for a glimpse)

How do you guys feel about the quality of the reissues? I liked them but maybe sound a bit more dense than they should? I haven't heard the originals. Feel like I should have enjoyed these albums more.

Top 3 tracks: Yoyo, Human Body, Cool.

Kinda wish there was more stuff with the sound of the Cool/Dub single.

A Tourist in the Land of Rock 'n' Roll: Vanessa Briscoe Hay

A long interview that includes a lot of details about the early history of the band

Wow, thanks

Here's my ancient review, with a little update added to the blog archive clip:

Originally published in Village Voice,Tuesday, OCTOBER 9, 2007 AT 4 A.M.

Pylon, Gyrate Plus (DFA)

"Cool" begins with a march, which Pylon's guitar propeller finely chops, letting the chips fly and fall where they may. No hurry. But nothing too laid-back, either—not in a small Southern town, where everybody who isn't dead is aware that too-easy fuh-un is as boring as everything else. So, despite not being as biz-adaptable as Athens, GA neighbors and admirers like the B-52s and R.E.M., Pylon were and are practical, in their own way. Their lyrics have been called surreal, but it's all part of the protocol, as vocalist (and registered nurse) Vanessa Briscoe often murmurs her way into a surgical strike, around which Michael Lanchowski's bass, Curtis Crowe's drums, and Randy Bewley's guitar channel a sinuous, sensuous, yet non-anesthetic groove, on Gyrate Plus: Pylon's 1980 debut album plus bonus tracks, including earlier singles ("Cool" and the equally voracious "Dub"), now opening Gyrate's first appearance on CD. They both sneak up on "Danger," which has often infiltrated DFA/LCD Soundsystem co-founder James Murphy's DJ sets. A few tracks here are too arty-mundane, which can happen when you're flying DIY through another date with "Gravity," like this brainy slam band did around the dawn of the big '80s, briefly in the '90s, and several times since '04. But, as Vanessa growls on the previously unreleased "Functionality": "There's something to be written on the air," always, and never much room for typos.

(update: Briscoe later told an interviewer that her combo's name came from the stripey road cone, not Faulkner's novel, Still, the way that his stunt-flying crew's inner tumult added to the momentum of their unified front always has appealed as a rockband description too.)

For some reason Gyrate Plus got pulled from Spotify.

Got pulled back in June from Spotify as was noted earlier in this thread. Still not there.

Pylon founder Michael Lachowski remembers the punk band's rise and fall

https://www.redandblack.com/culture/uga-employee-and-founder-of-pylon-michael-lachowski-discusses-the/article_b5c1f5e4-efd7-11e9-8ccf-3fc7ef6cc833.html?fbclid=IwAR2oZSeqh-BhSzImZLvtsrthRmEG3eEw-F6j5MSJ2l7ki64T-RQtfB2HREo

Vanessa has been working on a Pylon timeline and asks for help filling in gaps

Nice

https://vimeo.com/411617086

part of the video from the 1983 show released as Pylon Live

Haven't had time to read all of this yet, but good, brisk-not-breathless detail so far (lots of it I didn't know), also video links:
https://slate.com/culture/2020/07/pylon-band-athens-georgia-history-video-cool-town.html
Adapted from
Cool Town: How Athens, Georgia, Launched Alternative Music and Changed American Culture by Grace Elizabeth Hale, in stores now from the University of North Carolina Press. Yes way overselling past the colon, but may not have been her idea---got to watch those university presslords.

https://vimeo.com/411617086

part of the video from the 1983 show released as Pylon Live

― Brad C., Thursday, May 14, 2020 7:32 AM

yes, i've had too much to drink and shit has been weird, but yes, that brought me to tears by the end. jfc

I've had Cool Town on the shelf for months and am finally three chapters in. I'm struggling here and there with Hale's romanticism and nostalgia, but that reaction has more to do with my personal perspective on the early Athens scene than with the way her utopianism occasionally drifts over the top.

As history, it's excellent, meticulous on details and documentation and (judging from what I've so far) the best account yet of how the scene evolved from the B-52s to Pylon to R.E.M. I thought Lurie's Begin the Begin was exhaustive, but Hale's broader context lets her show better how skeptically R.E.M. were received by the Pylon-centric faithful and why R.E.M. became so much more successful (tl;dr Pylon didn't have the same industry connections and weren't willing to tour pizza parlors to build a regional audience).

Pylon rules.

I somehow missed news of this book. I'm pretty much a romanticist and a nostalgist when it comes to stuff like this, so count me in.

I am torn on the romantic and nostalgic approach but want to read the book to hear more about the early days of Pylon, and yes to cherish my memories of seeing them back then and playing their music on my college radio show.

Hale was in Athens in the 80s, so some of her romantic/nostalgic tone is that of a memoir ... it combines a bit oddly with the research-backed reportage, but it's earned and she maintains a careful balance between those voices

More difficult for me are some strong claims (suggested by the subtitle) about the Athens scene's unique influence, rarity, creativity, freedom, etc. ... as a cranky old townie, my first reaction to these is rmde, but she frames her arguments in ways that are making me reflect on my skepticism, so I'm enjoying that cognitive dissonance as much as the factual content

it's too close to home for me to be objective, but just based on the quality of the writing and research, I'd recommend it to anyone into Our Band Could Be Your Life and similar books

Dissatisfaction, what?
Let's take a look at that ink
B-L-O-T

I'm tired of moving my jaw
Gonna call and pa and ma
M-A, 10 points
Mamamamamamamamamamamamama, 10 points

Life is nothing
But death and taxes
And all the trees
That get the axes
A-X-E-S
Ohhhhhh, 22

You aren't the status quo
I just thought that you
Wanted to know
N-O, 8 points
Nonononononononononononono, 8 points

Let go of my sleeve
Or I'll turn you over my knee, knee
K-N-E-E
K!

The Camaro has a
D-E-N-T
Dissatisfaction
What!

is "K" about scrabble?

Y-E-S, 6 points

https://creativeloafing.com/content-161391-vanessa-briscoe-hay-s-top-5-pylon

haha, that's awesome! the whole anecdote about the making of that song is cool:

2) "K" from the album Chomp

This song that fell together by chance. The lyrics came from a scrabble game that bassist Michael Lachowski and I played together in a session where we were consciously trying to write lyrics. When we first performed this song live, it fell completely apart. We were sort of embarrassed, but our friend John Seawright came up to us after the show and was raving about that new song. We went back and listened to the tape of it and realized that it was better than what we were originally trying to do. So we spent hours dissecting that tape and learning the song the way it accidentally happened. Chris Stamey and Gene Holder from the DBs worked with us at Mitch Easter's studio to make it happen in an interesting way.

vanessa hay is a lovely person

From Rolling Reissues, re 2020 Soul Jazz comp The World of Keith Haring: "Danger" certainly held its own among stiff competition (these are the ones I liked):
3. Pylon – Danger£0.99
6. John Sex – Bump and Grind It£0.99
8. The Girls – Jeffrey I Hear You£0.99
10. Talking Heads – I Zimbra (on CD version only)
12. Class Action – Weekend (Larry Levan Mix)
13. Adiche – Chuka-Ja (Get Ready)£0.99
15. The Golden Flamingo Orchestra – The Guardian Angel Is Watching Over Us
16. Gray – Cut It Up High Priest£0.99
19. Yoko Ono – Walking On Thin Ice

That's almost half, better than I thought.

― dow, Monday, July 27, 2020 6:41 PM (five days ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAOILacn8Dw&t

Video of full show, Cleveland, 6/22/90

let's try that YouTube link again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAOILacn8Dw&t

bah, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAOILacn8Dw&t

sigh ... search YouTube for "pylon cleveland"

maybe try a different browser? Chrome won't do this any more for me, Firefox sometimes.

vinyl remasters and a comprehensive box set, out Nov. 6

https://pylon.band/

Chomp in print! Wow, that's awesome. I can't tell but it looks like the two bonus discs of rarities and unreleased stuff are only for the box set, which is kind of a bummer if so. But great that this stuff is getting out there.

i've managed to snag nice OG copies of Gyrate and Chomp, so i probably won't be picking this up. but damn, it's really cool and i hope that it makes some money for the pylon crew (i'm not sure how much the Dead Letter Office royalties provide, these days)

Thanks for the news!
Still got my ancient CDs Gyrate Plus and Chomp More, have heard Live enough times online to agree w those who say it takes quite a while to achieve liftoff (although it all sounds pretty confident: maybe they're teaching patience, loyalty)---but had not heard of the Buzz Tape, hmmmmm----among Other Options here, bandcamp pre-order for digital is $40.00, and they're already streaming 25 tracks. Looks like nothing from Chain, but I've still got the pre-recorded cassette somewhere, pretty good reunion album. Hope it'll get a nice remaster someday.
(XXpost: I was right to incl. Pylon and those others as keepers from The World of Keith Haring, but so is most of it! I should have listened again before posting.)

Love this band to pieces, but for a short-lived group with a limited discography I feel like I already own all the Pylon I need. Maybe I'll just order a new t-shirt, although my ancient 'Lefty Loosey Righty Tighty' shirt is still holding up surprisingly well.

I wish they'd do a CD version of the box, but I'm just glad to see everything back in print

*except 'Chain'

I saw elsewhere that there are 13 previously unreleased demo recordings in the box, fwiw

new interview: https://www.spin.com/2020/09/vanessa-briscoe-hay-looks-back-at-40-years-of-pylon/?utm_source=Mailing+List&utm_campaign=2edd1860c8-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_09_25_02_07&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9d7f017887-2edd1860c8-415586925&goal=0_9d7f017887-2edd1860c8-415586925&mc_cid=2edd1860c8&mc_eid=3ce2be0c08

The Pylon box will get a CD release.

https://store.newwestrecords.com/collections/pylon/products/pylon-pylon-box-cd-box-set

$85

nice article by Gordon Lamb, in some ways better than Hall's book in its evocation of Athens c. 1980

https://bittersoutherner.com/2020/persons-places-and-things-pylons-passage-to-permanence-athens

aww, nice to see GL's name pop up here

... and a good read, too! Thanks for linking that, it filled in the details of their story a lot for me.

Thanks for sharing that - the book in the box is very good, and this is a nice story supplement!

Ha, good quotes in here:
Razz Tape also includes the first recorded versions of two iconic Pylon songs: the rushing “Cool,” marked by an urgent Briscoe Hay slogan (“Everything is cool!”), and the contorted howler “Dub.” In his review of their NYC show, O’Brien guessed that “these kids eat dub for breakfast.” In reality, the quartet had never even heard of dub, but they were happy to use O’Brien’s claim as material. “I don't know what you're talking about,” snarls Briscoe Hay before chanting, “We eat dub for breakfast!”
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/pylon-pylon-box/

47 tracks here, incl. instrumentals, work tapes, remixes: https://pylonband.bandcamp.com/album/pylon-box

Michael and Vanessa are doing a live interview right now on WNYC

thanks for the link, dow. that schitt is bought!

https://magnetmagazine.com/2023/10/27/magnet-exclusive-premiere-of-pylon-reenactment-societys-flowers-everywhere-video/

Pylon Reenactment Society new song and video. Singer Vanessa is only one who was in Pylon. Current group new album coming out in February 2024

yeah I think I'll go see them, obv never saw Pylon but this band is great. That's a fun video and decent new song.

Old guy me has seen Pylon and Pylon Reenactment Society.

Restored video from 1983:

https://www.brooklynvegan.com/pylon-prep-restored-video-of-1983-final-show-watch-beep/

Great. Looking forward to the whole show when they get it all restored.

Just got home from seeing them in Los Angeles, great show (if a tad short at 65 minutes). They had the new LP/CD for sale, and the songs they played from it were good, but I decided to wait for a download.