Pylon (band)

Last updated
Pylon
Pylon at AthFest 2005.jpg
Pylon performing at AthFest 2005 in Athens, Georgia, USA, June 24, 2005.
Background information
Origin Athens, Georgia, United States
Genres
Years active1978–1983, 1989–1991, 2004–2009
Labels DB Records, Armageddon Records, Sky Records, DFA Records, Chunklet Industries
Past members Randall Bewley
Curtis Crowe
Vanessa Briscoe Hay
Michael Lachowski

Pylon was an American new wave/post-punk band from Athens, Georgia, United States, [1] who were active from 1979 to 1983, 1989 to 1991, and 2004 to 2009. The band consisted of singer Vanessa Briscoe Hay, guitarist Randall Bewley, bassist Michael Lachowski, and drummer Curtis Crowe. They released three studio albums and a number of singles from 1979 to 1990, as well as a live double album in 2016 (recorded on December 1, 1983).

Contents

The band's danceable sound, a blend of new wave, post-punk, jangle pop, [2] alternative rock and funk rock, [3] influenced the Athens music scene and the 1980s American pop underground. AllMusic wrote that Pylon's "role as elder statesmen of the alternative rock explosion is unassailable". [2]

History

1979–1983: Formation, early years and breakup

Pylon was formed in 1979. [4] The four members of Pylon were art students at the University of Georgia in Athens. [5] Guitarist Randall Bewley and bass guitarist Michael Lachowski began playing music and attempting to form a band in 1978. Neither had any musical experience: as Lachowski later recalled, "A lot of us in the art school were trying out different media with a punk rock message, which is just go in there and do it. You don’t need training, or authority or legitimacy. Just figure it out". They originally formed the band with the intention of securing live appearances in New York City, along with press attention, before splitting up. [6]

They practiced in a studio in downtown Athens that Lachowski rented from Curtis Crowe, upstairs from the later location of the Grill on College Avenue. The room was lit by a single 40-watt light bulb, so the band referred to it as the "40 Watt Club". Crowe, who lived above the studio, recalled hearing Lachowski and Bewley's early rehearsals through the floor: "a never-ending series of hooks—no bridges or chorus, just hooks". He soon joined the band as a drummer, stating that he "had every song memorized" before he approached them to join. [6] Bewley then approached Vanessa Briscoe (now Vanessa Briscoe Hay) about joining the band on vocals, on the basis that the band were fans of her art work: although she was initially reluctant as she also lacked musical experience, she auditioned for the band on February 14, 1979 and joined the lineup. [2] [6]

Contrary to some accounts, Pylon did not name themselves after William Faulkner's 1935 novel of the same name. As Hay later explained to Nashville Scene writer Edd Hurt, the band was unaware of the Faulkner novel when they began playing, and instead were inspired by traffic cones. [7] According to Lachowski, "we chose Pylon because it is severe, industrial, monolithic, functional". [6] Their musical influences included Cabaret Voltaire, Suicide, the No New York compilation and the soundtrack to Eraserhead . [8]

Pylon onstage, 1981. A-vanessa.jpg
Pylon onstage, 1981.

Pylon played their first live show at a party on March 9, 1979. [9] Despite receiving a relatively cool reception at their first two concerts, members of the B-52's attended Pylon's third show, where "they started dancing and running around like crazy and everybody else did too", according to Briscoe Hay. [6] Fred Schneider and Kate Pierson of the B-52's were particularly supportive and helped promote Pylon's music in New York City, getting them a gig at Hurrah. [10] After Schneider passed Hurrah's manager Jim Fouratt a Pylon demo tape, Fouratt called the band and offered their choice of opening slots for a number of upcoming headlining bands: they chose to support the Gang of Four. Their performance was well-received by the audience and was the subject of a positive review by Glenn O'Brien in Interview. [6]

Pylon's debut single, "Cool", backed by "Dub", [11] was released on DB Records in 1979, and received many positive critical reviews. [12] [2] It was followed by their first full-length album, Gyrate , in 1980. [13] That year they also opened for the B-52s at Central Park. [6]

The !! 10" EP, released in 1980 on the UK label Armageddon Records, included both sides of the debut single plus "Driving School" and "Danger!!" from the album. [14] Two further singles followed, "Crazy" (1981), [15] which charted at No. 61 for club play in Billboard, [16] and "Beep" (1982). [17]

From 1980 to 1983, Pylon toured parts of the U.S., Canada and the U.K., playing with groups such as the B-52's, Gang of Four, Mission of Burma, Love Tractor, R.E.M., Talking Heads and U2.

Chomp , their second album, was released in 1983. [18] By that time, the members of Pylon were beginning to feel that playing together was becoming less fun and more like a business, and after being poorly received by audiences when opening for U2 on the U.S. leg of their War Tour, they decided to break up the band in late 1983, [1] [8] [6] their final show being at Athens' Mad Hatter club on December 1. Hay later said, "For whatever reason it was our decision. We were like, 'Let's just quit while we're having fun.' That was kind of the idea in the first place. We were just going to perform as long as it was fun. So we broke up and it was a decision we all made together". [8] Lachowski explained: "we accomplished what we set out to do...It’s not that we are miserable, it’s just that we’ve seen all we’re going to see and don’t want to put any more time into it". [6]

Legacy and influence

With some help from the members of R.E.M., Pylon's reputation as one of the great underground bands of the new wave era was solidified in 1987. Numerous musicians from the Athens rock scene publicly attested to their deep reverence for Pylon in the film Athens, GA: Inside/Out , released in February 1987. [19] In April, R.E.M. released the compilation album Dead Letter Office , which opened with a cover version of Pylon's "Crazy", previously issued as the B-side of their 1985 single "Driver 8". [5]

When Rolling Stone named R.E.M. "America's Best Band" in December 1987, R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry said "We're not the best rock 'n' roll band in America", declaring that Pylon was instead the best. [20] "That was (R.E.M.) just being gracious and honoring the scene that they came out of and the scene that they obviously contributed to," said Lachowski in a 2016 interview in New York Observer. "R.E.M. became so successful and successful in a different way. They were true musicians and had all kinds of historical knowledge about musical forms and different kinds of music. They were just very adept and confident and had so much more range. We were truly just art students assembling things with sound and instruments". [8]

1989–2009: Reunions

After a six-year hiatus punctuated with a smattering of reunion shows, Pylon officially reformed in 1989, [21] coinciding with the release of a compilation of the band's work from 1979–83, Hits (1989). [22] They opened for the final leg of R.E.M.'s Green tour.

In 1990, the group released a new album, Chain, on Sky Records. [5] They played several more shows, including the South by Southwest Festival in 1990 and 1991, but when guitarist Bewley decided to leave in 1991, the band broke up again. [21]

Pylon came out of retirement again in 2004, and played their first set in more than a decade in August 2004 at the then-fledgling Little King's Shuffle Club in Athens. They played the 2004 New Year's Eve show [21] at the 40 Watt Club, headlined the first night of the Athens music festival AthFest in June 2005, and recorded an untelevised segment for Pancake Mountain in 2006.

On April 4, 2007, Pylon performed an impromptu show at Little King's to announce the reissue of Gyrate on DFA Records. Expanded with extra tracks and retitled Gyrate Plus, it was released on October 16, 2007. They performed several key shows in 2008, including the Part Time Punks Festival in Los Angeles, [23] a show taped for Georgia Public Broadcasting in Athens, and the Revolve Film and Music Festival in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. [24]

On February 25, 2009, Bewley died, two days after suffering a heart attack while driving his van. [25]

Bewley's death brought the band's career to a close; Hay said, "Pylon died when Randy died". [8]

Subsequent developments

DFA reissued the band's second album in expanded form as Chomp More in 2009. [2]

In October 2011, DFA issued a two-track 7" split single called Cover + Remix. The A-side featured a cover of Pylon's "Cool" by Deerhunter, while the B-side consisted of a remix of "Yo-Yo" by Calvinist. [26]

On July 25, 2016, Chunklet Industries released the double album Pylon Live, which had been recorded at Athens club The Mad Hatter on December 1, 1983, before they disbanded for the first time. [27] Pitchfork called it

an all-business, no-banter set that sees them streamroll through 20 songs in 70 minutes with assembly-line precision: bassist Michael Lachowski and drummer Curtis Crowe lay the foundation, Bewley sculpts it into strange shapes with his surgical guitar lines, and singer Vanessa Briscoe-Hay splatters her mantric messaging on the walls like a spraycan-wielding prophet. [28]

The album was previewed by Chunklet's April 20 release of a 7" single, "Gravity", taken from the live album. [29] [30]

New West Records reissued the "Cool"/"Dub" single as a special edition for Record Store Day in 2019. On August 28, 2020, the label announced the November 6, 2020 release of Pylon Box, a vinyl box set that contains remastered editions of Gyrate and Chomp, and two exclusive albums, Extra (containing various non-album tracks and five previously unissued recordings) and Razz Tape, containing the band's first-ever studio recordings, preceding the "Cool"/"Dub" single. The box also includes a 200-page hardcover book with new interviews with the surviving members of the band and testimonies from members of R.E.M., The B-52's, Gang of Four, The Bongos, Mission of Burma, Sleater-Kinney, Beat Happening, and Sonic Youth, and others. [31]

In September 2020, the city launched the Athens Music Walk of Fame. The public art walk spans a two city blocks loop around West Washington and Clayton Streets connected by North Lumpkin Street. Guitar pick plaques were laid down on the sidewalk in front of such significant music venues as the Georgia Theatre, the 40 Watt Club, and the Morton Theatre. The first round of inductees included The B-52s, Danger Mouse, Drive-By Truckers, The Elephant 6 Recording Company, Hall Johnson, Neal Pattman, Pylon, R.E.M., Vic Chesnutt, and Widespread Panic. [32] [33]

Other projects

Hay is a member of the Athens band Supercluster, formed in 2007. Bewley was also a member before his death. [34]

In 2014, Hay formed Pylon Reenactment Society with guitarist Jason NeSmith, drummer Gregory Sanders, and bass guitarist Kay Stanton, members of more recent Athens bands like the Glands and Casper & the Cookies. [35] [36] In a 2016 interview, Hay said "It's been inspirational, if that's the right word, to be able to play this music again. I really don't want people to forget Pylon. These are different people and we are re-enacting this experience, so it's not exactly Pylon, but it's fresh and done in the same spirit". In October 2017, Pylon Reenactment Society self-released an EP initially recorded on December 11, 2016 for broadcast in Los Angeles for DJ Michael Stock's Part Time Punks KXLU show, titled Part Time Punks Session. [37] [38]

On February 9, 2024, Pylon Reenactment Society released their full length album debut on Strolling Bones Records titled Magnet Factory . The album of eleven songs includes two tunes written by Pylon in 1979, but never formally recorded in the studio – "3 x 3" and "Heaven (In Your Eyes)". It also includes a track ("Fix It") featuring vocals by Kate Pierson. [39] [40]

Members

Discography

Studio albums

Singles and EPs

Live albums

Box set

Compilation albums

Filmography

Related Research Articles

<i>Chronic Town</i> 1982 EP by R.E.M.

Chronic Town is the debut EP by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released on August 24, 1982, on I.R.S. Records. Containing five tracks, the EP was recorded at the Drive-In Studio in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in October 1981, eighteen months after the formation of the band. Its co-producer was Mitch Easter, who produced the band's "Radio Free Europe" single earlier in 1981.

<i>Dead Letter Office</i> (album) 1987 compilation album by R.E.M.

Dead Letter Office is a rarities and B-sides collection by R.E.M., released in April 1987. The album is essentially a collection of many additional recordings R.E.M. made from before Murmur to Lifes Rich Pageant that were outtakes or released as B-sides to their singles internationally. Many of the tracks are favorite cover versions indicating the band's disparate influences and musical tastes, including three Velvet Underground covers, and songs by Aerosmith, Roger Miller, and fellow Athenians Pylon ("Crazy").

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Love Tractor</span> Band from Athens, Georgia

Love Tractor is a band from Athens, Georgia, founded in spring 1980 by guitarists Mark Cline and Mike Richmond, and bassist Armistead Wellford, students at the University of Georgia. Like The B-52's, Pylon and R.E.M., Love Tractor has been lauded by critics and music historians as one of the founders of the Athens, Georgia, alternative rock scene. Love Tractor toured extensively and recorded six critically acclaimed albums, consistently topping the college and alternative charts. Love Tractor was particularly known for their instrumental rock.

The music of Athens, Georgia includes a wide variety of popular music and was an important part of the early evolution of alternative rock and new wave. The city is well known as the home of chart-topping bands like R.E.M., Widespread Panic, The B-52's, and several long-time indie rock groups. Athens hosts the Athens Symphony Orchestra and other music institutions, as well as prominent local music media, such as the college radio station WUOG. Much of the modern Athens music scene relies on students from the large University of Georgia campus in the city. The University sponsors Western classical performances and groups specializing in other styles.

<i>Athens, GA: Inside/Out</i> 1987 film by Tony Gayton

Athens, GA: Inside/Out is a 1986 documentary film about the mid-1980s music scene in Athens, Georgia. The film has been described as "the definitive portrait of the city's world-renowned music scene."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">40 Watt Club</span> Music venue in Athens, Georgia, US

The 40 Watt Club is a music venue in Athens, Georgia. Along with CBGB, the Whisky a Go Go, and selected others, it was instrumental in launching American punk rock and new wave music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vanessa Briscoe Hay</span> American singer and songwriter (born 1955)

Vanessa Briscoe Hay is an American singer for the Athens, Georgia bands Pylon, Supercluster and Pylon Reenactment Society.

Michael Scott Lachowski was the bass guitar player for Pylon, a band from Athens, Georgia. He was born in Norfolk, Virginia, and attended the University of Georgia art school. He and his roommate Randy Bewley formed Pylon, recruiting Curtis Crowe as a drummer, and Vanessa Briscoe Hay, a fellow student at the University of Georgia. They recorded the single "Cool/Dub", an album Gyrate, an EP, another album Chomp, and two singles. Pylon toured the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom before breaking up in 1983. They returned to tour again in 1988, and recorded another album, Chain, in 1990, before breaking up again in 1991. Pylon reformed in 2005 and occasionally performed until 2009, when Bewley died. Their first album, Gyrate Plus, was reissued on October 16, 2007, by DFA Records, New York City. In 2009, Chomp More was also reissued by DFA Records.

Curtis Hudgins Crowe is the drummer for the Athens, Georgia rock band Pylon. He is a native of Marietta, Georgia, and is the middle child of five children. Crowe moved to Athens to attend the University of Georgia art school. His sister Rhett Crowe was later the bass player for the band Guadalcanal Diary, a fixture on the college music scene back in the 1980s and 1990s. He has also been involved in several other music projects such as Strictly American and Dodd Ferrelle and the Tinfoil Stars.

Randall Eugene Bewley was the guitarist for the Athens, Georgia-based band Pylon.

Supercluster is a recording project that formed during 2007 in Athens, Georgia. It includes musicians from the Athens, Georgia bands New Sound Of Numbers, Bob Hay & the Jolly Beggars, Casper & the Cookies, Of Montreal, Circulatory System and Pylon, along with Elephant 6 recording artist John Fernandes. Members presently include Hannah M. Jones, Bob Hay, Bill David, Kay Stanton, Bryan Poole, Vanessa Briscoe Hay, Jason NeSmith and John Fernandes. Alumni include Randy Bewley (deceased), Heather McIntosh, Will Cullen Hart and Peter Erchick. Supercluster play what they term "Appalachian Wave." For a brief period they were known as FFFM.

<i>Gyrate</i> (album) 1980 studio album by Pylon

Gyrate is the debut studio album by American rock band Pylon, released in 1980 by record label DB.

<i>Chomp</i> (album) 1983 studio album by Pylon

Chomp is the second studio album by Athens, Georgia band Pylon, released in 1983. It was re-released in 2009 via DFA Records.

<i>Chain</i> (Pylon album) 1990 studio album by Pylon

Chain is the third studio album by the American rock band Pylon, released in 1990. It was released after a seven-year hiatus. R.E.M. had lobbied the band to record again, suggesting that Pylon could use R.E.M.'s practice space.

<i>7IN—83–88</i> 2014 box set by R.E.M.

7IN—83–88 is a collection of 7-inch singles released by American alternative rock band R.E.M. on December 9 2014. The collection covers their singles released on the I.R.S. label between 1983 and 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athens Tango Project</span>

Athens Tango Project is an Argentine tango music band founded in 2012 in the city of Athens, Georgia by Laura Camacho, a Double bass musician from Buenos Aires, featuring Monique Osorio on vocals, John Phillips on drums, John Cooper on violin, and Matt M Vu, David Marcus, on piano. The extended lineup includes Keiko Ishibashi, Franziska Brunner, Teresa Grynia, Curran Pendergrast, Bill Oglesby, Daniel Allen, James Perkins, Jaime Antonio Cardenas Espana, Serena Scibelli, Fernando Deddos, and Ricardo Hurtado.

Pylon Reenactment Society is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jangle pop</span> Music genre

Jangle pop is a subgenre of pop rock and college rock that emphasizes jangly guitars and 1960s-style pop melodies. The term is usually applied to late 1970s/early 1980s bands emerging from the post-punk scene, that seemed indebted to 1960s groups such as the Byrds. Notable acts include R.E.M. and the Smiths

<i>Pylon Box</i> 2020 compilation album box set by Pylon

Pylon Box is a 2020 box set compilation album of American alternative rock band Pylon, featuring remixed versions of their first two studio albums as well as over a dozen newly released tracks. It has received positive reviews from critics.

<i>Magnet Factory</i> 2024 studio album by Pylon Reenactment Society

Magnet Factory is the debut full-length studio album by American rock band Pylon Reenactment Society. It has received positive reviews from critics and was promoted by live touring by the band and music videos for "3 x 3" and "Fix It". The album includes two tracks written by Pylon, a band that also included vocalist Vanessa Briscoe Hay, who formed this group in 2014.

References

  1. 1 2 Pareles, Jon (20 May 1989). "New Pylon Exhibits Its Old Drive". New York Times. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Ankeny, Jason. "Pylon | Biography". AllMusic . Retrieved 2016-07-29.
  3. ↑ George-Warren, Holly; Romanowski, Patricia, eds. (2001). The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 792. ISBN   0-7432-9201-4. Like an apolitical answer to England's Gang of Four, Pylon played a brutally physical, stripped-down form of funk rock
  4. ↑ Gotrich, Lars (August 26, 2020). "The Long Tail Of Pylon, According To Pylon". NPR . Retrieved May 18, 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 Strong, Martin Charles (2003). The Great Indie Discography. Edinburgh UK: Canongate. ISBN   1-84195-335-0 . Retrieved 2011-01-10.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Hale, Grace Elizabeth (8 July 2020). "The Birth and Death of Pylon, America's Best Rock Band". Slate . Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  7. ↑ Hurt, Edd (1 March 2018). "Pylon Reenactment Society Carries the Flame for Athens Post-Punk Legends". Nashville Scene. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Cohan, Brad (25 July 2016). "America's (Other) Best Band: Pylon's Brilliant Punk Minimalism Lives On". Observer .
  9. ↑ "Pylon: Biography". Perfect Sound Forever . Retrieved July 17, 2013.
  10. ↑ Reynolds, Simon (2006). Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978–1984 . London: Penguin Books. p.  264. ISBN   0-14-303672-6 . Retrieved 2011-01-10. Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984.
  11. ↑ Dolan, Jon (November 9, 2020). "'Pylon Box' is a Perfect History of the Greatest Arty Party Band of All Time". Rolling Stone . Retrieved May 18, 2021.
  12. ↑ Hale, Grace Elizabeth (2020). Cool Town: How Athens, Georgia, Launched Alternative Music and Changed American Culture. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. p. 77. ISBN   978-1-469-65488-1.
  13. ↑ "Pylon (4) – Gyrate". Discogs.com. 18 November 1980.
  14. ↑ "Pylon (4) – !!". Discogs. 1980.
  15. ↑ "Pylon (4) – Crazy / M-Train". Discogs. 1981.
  16. ↑ Billboard May 15, 1982 Dance/Disco Top 80
  17. ↑ "Pylon (4) – Beep / Altitude". Discogs. 1982.
  18. ↑ "Pylon (4) – Chomp". Discogs. 1983.
  19. ↑ Maslin, Janet (29 May 1987). "'Athens, GA.,' On Rock Bands". New York Times. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
  20. ↑ "Taking Fun Seriously: Pylon's Last Hurrah". Spin.com. 2 August 2016.
  21. 1 2 3 Julie Phillips (26 February 2009). "Guitarist for famed Athens band Pylon dies". Online Athens.com (cred. Athens Banner-Herald). Retrieved 2011-01-10.
  22. ↑ "Pylon (4) – Hits". Discogs. 1989.
  23. ↑ "Partying Like It's 1983: Part-Time Punks Announce Post-Punk Fest Featuring A Certain Ratio, Pylon, Savage Republic, Vivian Girls and More". Laweekly.com. 29 October 2008.
  24. ↑ "Festival revolves around film and music". Yesweekly.com. 6 August 2008.
  25. ↑ Lesemann, T. Ballard (27 February 2009). "R.I.P. Pylon guitarist Randy Bewley". Charleston City Paper. Charleston SC. Archived from the original on 4 April 2009. Retrieved 2011-01-10.
  26. ↑ "Pylon (4) – Cover + Remix". Discogs. 2011.
  27. ↑ Mark Deming. "Pylon Live – Pylon | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic . Retrieved 2016-07-29.
  28. ↑ "Pylon: Pylon Live Album Review – Pitchfork". Pitchfork.com.
  29. ↑ "Pylon (4) – Gravity b/w Weather Radio Live". Discogs. 2016.
  30. ↑ Harrison, Shane. "'Pylon Live' documents Athens' musical heyday". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  31. ↑ "Pylon vinyl box set to include 'Gyrate,' 'Chomp' and previously unreleased rarities". Slicingupeyeballs.com. 27 August 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  32. ↑ Smith, Jessica (2020-09-02). "The Athens Music Walk of Fame Honors Past and Present Musicians". Flagpole. Retrieved 2020-11-29.
  33. ↑ "Athens Music Walk of Fame | Athens-Clarke County, GA - Official Website". www.accgov.com. Retrieved 2020-11-29.
  34. ↑ "Supercluster's Vanessa Briscoe Hay untangles Athens' musical lineage". www.creativeloafing.com. Archived from the original on 11 November 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  35. ↑ "The Pylon Reenactment Society Revives the Past". Portlandmercury.com.
  36. ↑ Wine, Steven (2024-02-05). "Music Review: New album by Pylon Reenactment Society revives Pylon's style of funky art punk". Music. Associated Press . Retrieved 2024-07-06.
  37. ↑ "Pylon Reenactment Society - Part Time Punks Session". Discogs.com. 6 October 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  38. ↑ Mills, Fred (25 October 2017). "PYLON REENACTMENT SOCIETY – Part Time Punks Session EP (colored vinyl 12")". Blurt Magazine. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  39. ↑ Midnight, Chip (5 February 2024). "Interview Pylon Reenactment Society". bigtakeovee.com. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  40. ↑ Smith, Lee Valentine (5 February 2024). "Inspired by original band, Pylon Reenactment Society releases own new album". ajc.com. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.