Reviewed by Chris Roberts
Released: August 24 1982 R.E.M. Chronic Town (E.P.) Genre: Southern Gothic Allen’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Chris’ Rating: 4.8 out of 5 Highlights: Wolves, Lower Gardening At Night Carnival Of Sorts (Box Cars) 1,000,000 Allen's Additional Highlights: Stumble For 1982, Chronic Town was very weird. It’s a rock record with no crazy guitar solos and no synthesizers, but all kinds of sonic twiddling, jangles and mumblemouths. It had no place except with confused college kids. I didn’t even try to like R.E.M. until my freshman year of college when “The One I Love” was inescapable. “Fall On Me” and “Superman” were cool songs but LPs like Reckoning and Fables of The Reconstruction were slow going, mostly due to the incomprehensible lyrics and Michael Stipe’s funky voice. When I finally got to it, the Chronic Town EP was just the last five songs on my Dead Letter Office rarities CD (and are listed in the wrong order). R.E.M.’s legacy and history could easily crush those five songs, so I’m going to keep my review focused (and EP length.) [1] One weekend, hot off the minor success of the Hib-Tone single “Radio Free Europe,” R.E.M., in their early 20s, recorded and mixed a handful of new songs with producer Mitch Easter. Not yet signed to IRS Records, these recordings show that R.E.M.’s classic sound was there at the start. To say this sound was a success is an understatement [2] as they’d stick with this formula for more than a decade (until 1994’s stylistic shift on their ninth LP, Monster). In ’82, R.E.M.’s world may have included shiny happy people holding hands, but more notable is the darkness on the edge of Chronic Town. Something just below the surface of Peter Buck’s sunny Rickenbacker. It’s in Easter’s layering of sounds, and Stipe’s words that you understand but don’t add up. Dig in, feel the dirt, peel back the layers, and you’ll see; Chronic Town is a suburb of Twin Peaks. First encounter is “Wolves, Lower.” Buck’s 12-string guitar and the vocal harmonies are more ringing Byrd-calls than howls, but be warned. When the anxious chorus of “suspicion yourself, suspicion yourself” is joined at the break by a backwards cacophony, it’s purely Tippi Hedren crossing Bodega Bay. Next is “Gardening At Night,” which R.E.M. performed at their induction into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. A lovely melody, but within it swarms psychedelia, softer mumbles, buried loops and other sonic treasures; it’s a great headphones song for those who walk unafraid. (R.E.M.’s publishing company is Night Gardening, and they will also engage in night swimming in a few years. Bill Berry claims the song was inspired by taking a leak on a road trip at night.) The A (“Chronic Town”) side wraps up with one of my favorite R.E.M. songs, “Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars).” Part of my love for this song is that it’s slightly more decodable, with a carnival music intro and references to an audience of gentlemen, but this is more Todd Browning than Circus Vargas. What the hell is a “reaping wheel?” With “torn edges” and “secrets” augmented by a frantic pace, strange clicking sounds and Stipes final echoey howls, I suspect some Bauhaus records made to Athens. The B (“Poster Torn”) side begins with the aggressive “1,000,000,” perhaps the catchiest and most straightforward song here. I’m unsure if “I could live a million years” is about an optimistic vampire, but with more references to graves, tombs and marker stones, plus the stryga gargoyle on the EP cover is all the closet-goth confirmation I need. The EP ends with “Stumble,” which at this point, I think it’s fair to say is about some local hipster zombies who need to find the business end of Michonne’s katana. At almost six minutes, and with a hallmark Stipe monologue, I’m almost ready to hop on a boxcar myself. But with more highlights than my dentist’s office, this EP is as essential as it is weird and dark. ********** 1. I had in mind, a Yelp-style review of my local Chronic Town dispensary, but the sour Space Gems kicked in and I spent a couple hours eating Pringles and watching The Regular Show. 2. In 1996, R.E.M. signed a five-album, $80 million-dollar deal with Warner Bros. At the time, it was the largest recording contract ever awarded. Those five albums are: Up, Reveal, Around The Sun, Accelerate and Collapse Into Now. Prophetic titles.
No comments:
Post a Comment