Critical Upgrade: Pylon
By BigSteve on Apr 7, 2008
Pylon was that other band from Athens, GA – you know, the one that wasn’t the B-52’s or R.E.M. The ones that made a couple of singles and albums, got some love from hipsters, made no money, then disappeared into the mists of rock history. Now the ultra-cool DFA Records (of LCD Soundsystem fame) has re-released their first album, which has long been unavailable on CD. This is a perfect opportunity for a Critical Upgrade.
This isn’t a case where the band has had their critical stock price fall over the years. It’s more like they just kind of fell off of everybody’s radar. Though they came out of the same scene as their more famous Athens contemporaries, they don’t sound much like either one. They have a much more hard-edged post-punk sound, one that at the time was most often compared to the Gang of Four.
The Athens scene was very dance-centered, and this music definitely works on the body, but it’s doesn’t have the party atmosphere of the B-52’s. One reason is the lyrics. Vocalist Vanessa Briscoe wrote cryptic songs that remind me a lot of the early Talking Heads lyrics – topics like reading, driving, gravity, volume, work, all approached elliptically and sung about in a detached but intense style that’s hard to get a fix on. I find the approach mysterious and oddly alluring, but it was not one that drew in large numbers of listeners. The fact that they were on DB Records, not a major label like their peers, did not help their commercial prospects.
Instrumentally they were more direct. When I met them on their first tour, they said soundmen loved them because their set-up was so easy to mix – one trebly guitar, one deep bass, no background vocals, and drummer that hit hard enough that he hardly needed the PA. Neither of the gigs I saw back then was well-attended, and I believe that was sadly typical for them. After a couple of albums they were gone, and a so-so reunion album in 1990 (Chain) did nothing to revive their fortunes. I understand they’ve been playing a few gigs around this re-release but that they’re no longer a going concern.
So as not to compete with DFA, these tracks are vinyl transfers from my collection. You might want to boost the bass on them a bit. The mastering on the new CD is very nice, and the tracks sound even better on Gyrate Plus (so called because it includes their early single "Cool"). Here are a couple of album tracks ("Volume" and "Stop It"), the B-side of that single (the awesome "Dub" with its chant “we eat dub for breakfast”), and a follow-up single not included on the DFA re-issue ("Beep"). Enjoy.
Pylon, "Volume"
Pylon, "Stop It"
Pylon, "Dub"
Pylon, "Beep"
22 comments
Of the Athens triumvirate they've got it all over the B-52s and over the years I've come to listen more to Pylon than the early REM that I used to love. This is likely due to being bombarded with images like this:
My only question is- Does Pylon require an upgrade? Are they not already held in pretty high esteem by geeks like us?
Listening to these tracks now for the first time in 25 years or whatever it's been (my lord, how time flies!), this sounds better although I'm still not immediately grasping anything distinctive at the fore. What's really helped me, though, is having BigSteve's Talking Heads comparison in mind. I can better appreciate this stuff thinking of some of Talking Heads' more minimalist stuff than thinking of what I found special about Gang of Four. Thanks, BigSteve. These are four songs I'll check out more than every 25 years.
certainly, when a critic is trying to place the sound of a new band, in this case pylon, for his / her reader, it is reasonable to note the dry, tough, bass heavy sound of "cool", which compares reasonably the early gang of four stuff.
but, no, they don't sound entirely like gof to me, either. in the end, the songs are different in spirit.
i heard "cool" when it came out thanks to a friend who went to swarthmore while i was still a senior in high school. i was excited. and based on that song, i could see why pete buck might rave about them. ...there's a fresh energy in that recording that approaches what i've seen of their early live performances. and both still seem fresh to me.
as much as i like them, i think they're one of those tragic bands that was rarely able to translate their magic into their recordings. "cool" is remarkable, and what BigSteve has posted also comes close, but it somehow loses something. thanks for posting them, steve! I like pylon alot!
i also don't think the footage from '07 quite makes the case....
It's true that Pylon's recorded sound was a bit tamer than their live sound, which was totally slamming on the two occasions I saw them, but it was also more detailed and it allowed one to see their artier side.
but that movie about athens (i believe it was called "athens, ga") has some really hot stuff.
and i agree, completely: the recordings bring out their 'artier' side, which, unfortunately, doesn't agree with me. it's not that i don't like *all* artiness. but i don't like theirs. i hear it as self-consciousness instead. that probably says more about how i hear it than how it *actually* sounds.
and what about the after life of this kind of sound (whether influenced by Pylon or not)?
the first time I saw Erase Errata (very early after their formation), i thought of the live Pylon. I have no idea whatsoever if they were fans, but i wouldn't be surprised.
there was also a band that came before the d.c. band called "autoclave" that was comprised of some of the women who would form that band, and which sounded alot like pylon, to me. i don't know if they ever gigged, but i got to hang out at some of their practices.
Always loved Pylon, so there doesn't seem like much to rediscover on this reissue, surprised there isn't more unreleased stuff around. "M-Train" was always in my secret pocket when I would DJ live, always seemed to get a boisterous response on the dancefloor when I played it.
The Woodpecker cover you're thinking about could be an EP by the Full Time Men (side project of Fleshtones/Peter Buck). Click on the link under my name to see it. Also, I just picked up the CD reissue of Gyrate. Glad to see stuff like that getting support from record companies.
I do hear one commonality between Pylon, B-52's, and REM. They are all one-guitar bands who let the bass play a major role.
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