R.E.M. Listening Club

Apparently it’s the faster one from Chronic that appears on DLO.

I’m enjoying Bill Berry describing its inspiration:

“We were driving at night after a show (I don’t remember where), and I was at the wheel of our old car, with a rental trailer in tow. One of my three passengers aimed a directive at me. Rather than inform me of his desire to evacuate his bladder, he instead suggested that I pull over so that he might engage in the task of roadside ‘night gardening.’ To four guys in their early twenties this was a glaring catalyst for a new song.”

:heart_eyes:

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Zammy (my stuffed :crocodile:) and I are really enjoying this excuse to revisit early REM

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It’s pretty incredible for a band to hit such hights with their debut EP, to completely encapsulate their own sound right from the very start. There are songs on thronic town that would be career highlights for other bands - Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars). You really get the sense on this EP that the band were completely pulling in the same direction from the very begining, Mills and Berry are driving every track with a real sense of urgency which perfectly balance out Buck’s jangly guitar lines and Stipe’s melodies are full of hooks, with lyrics (when it’s possible to make them out) seem to say so much without giving away any real sense of meaning.

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Wolves, Lower: somehow, the greatest band ever to have existed (IMO) wrote one of their greatest songs right off the bat. For me Bill Berry makes this song; I don’t drum and can’t name any techniques, but everything he does sounds so effortless and that lovely dit-di-di dit-di-di dit thing he does with cymbals is the beating heart of many early R.E.M. tracks.

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Gardening At Night: I first heard this as a shonky but wonderful live recording on this bootleg, bought on cassette from the Glasgow Barras when I was 14. It’s obviously one of their classics, but perhaps given the way I came to the song, I prefer the later live (enunciated!) versions slightly.

I think Bill Berry is a but unsung, his drumming on Stumble absolutely makes that track.

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Cheers to you and Zammy! (and everyone else enjoying some early R.E.M. this week).

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You’ve got to admire them carrying on for decades after recording Carnival of Sorts. I think I’d be all “yeah, that’s it, that’s as perfect a four minute rock song as we’ll ever record, it’s been great fun chaps” and split up.

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Carnival Of Sorts (Box Cars): twenty-odd years later and I still have no clue what this song is about, despite it being one of the rare early songs I know all the words to. So wonderfully mysterious! I first heard this on a friend’s mum’s copy of “The Best of REM” released by IRS. My mate dubbed a copy for me, although for some reason he recorded himself shouting “ahhhh, this music is pish and you’re a fucking fanny” between the last two tracks :slight_smile:

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1,000,000: for some reason I never properly appreciated this song until the “Live At The Olympia” CDs came out. Very much jumping ahead, but that album is so damn good, as is this song. Full of youthful promise, and yet more mystery for us all to ponder.

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Stumble: the weakest song on the EP and too long for what it offers, but an intriguing track nevertheless. Great playing from Berry and Mills here. I’m sure I once read what stumbling through the “APT” meant, but I can’t remember it right now.

Overall, Chronic Town EP never fails to amaze me. How did such a young group playing mostly covers suddenly come up with so much melodic, inscrutable, timeless music for their first release? As folk have said, lesser bands could’ve ridden out entire careers on tracks these strong, yet R.E.M. were just getting started…

(don’t worry, I’m not going to post about every DLO track! :joy:)

I will try and do this, been on a bit of an REM trip recently.

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Could be useful for those spinning “The Voice of Harold” right now…

Yeah, this is a great song that I already know from the IRS comp. In terms of lyrics, I guess there’s a fairly straightforward literal meaning of a circus leaving town with all its equipment following a show, but it’s almost impossible to tell whether this is a metaphor for something else unless Stipe has ever elaborated? Love the imagery either way.

I was supposed to listen to this at work today but It guy decided he needed to do some updates and they got stuck after a restart and it didn’t finish before I went home. so he’s probably fucked my install. Tomorrow hopefully!

Making an alternative Murmur tracklist after being allowed to swap out track for Chronic Town ones would make a stupidly good album I’m sure

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Ooooooooh might join in with this

Enjoyed the first 5 and last 5 (Chronic) of Dead Letter Office, the middle was a slog. Voice of Harold is great, never heard it before.

Is it just me or does their really early stuff have a very strong Meat Puppets vibe?

(this is making me wish I used Spotify; never heard Chronic Town)

tried to buy it on iTunes but honest to god fuck iTunes