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”