The band just put out a phenomenal box set of their early albums plus some great unreleased recordings. It also includes a fantastic hard cover book of cool photos. If you are a Pylon fan, this is a must have! I have the vinyl but I think it is still available on CD.
Yes, Greg, absolutely correct! If there's one band it pays to be exhaustive with, it's Pylon. They didn't put out a ton of stuff, so it's definitely worth it to have everything. I even have a link in the description above.
Rolling Stone rated “Cool” one of the Top 100 Greatest Debut Singles of All Time. Peter Buck of REM heard Pylon’s “Crazy” on the radio on the day REM released their EP “Chronic Town” which contained a cover of “Crazy” and got depressed by how much better Pylon’s version was than REMs. Bill Berry, “Best live band I have ever seen.” Opened for U2 on a few dates on their 1983 tour.
I was there! In Athens at the University 77-82. That college town may as well have been the center of the universe in those years! Certainly the epicenter of the New South Music Scene. I have both of Pylon’s Gyrate and Chomp albums and of course REM’s Chronic Town, Murmur and Dead Letter Office and B-52’s B-52’s, Wild Planet and Mesopotamia. These are some of my most prized possessions and I have such great memories of my time there when all this happened.
Pylon was my favorite band out of the classic Athens era above all others. Vanessa and the PRS folks are my buddies they crashed with me a couple times for shows here, lovely lovely folks. PRS have a new record out this week! And yes as someone mentioned the box set is fantastic.
I did college radio in the 80’s. Nobody I know talks about music these days and I miss it. Thanks for reminding me about these guys. I drive a Kia Soul and it doesn’t even come with a CD player, just a USB drive. The record player crashed and burned a long time ago. Keep on keeping on….
Thanks a lot! I started this channel because I wanted to create that feeling of excitedly talking about good music with your friends. Glad you found my channel. And you've gotta get a boombox for the car!
At the beginning of the video you said that the band's name was inspired by a traffic pylon, but I had always assumed it was a literary reference to William Faulkner's novel Pylon. At Wax 'N' Facts records in Atlanta, the home of DB Records, there was a lineup of paperback books that had titles that matched band names - including Pylon and label mates The Reivers and Guadalcanal Diary.
Hey there! Sorry I didn't get back sooner, Wade. I almost commented after you posted, but I didn't want to give away the secret that I was about to drop a Husker Du episode! Hope you enjoyed it. You're so right about those college-radio days. Such great music on a regular basis--and I know in retrospect I took it for granted. Thanks for the comment!
How has your channel flown under the radar? This is a great retrospective and primer for a new Pylon fan. I’ll be using this to recruit more of us. Thank you.
Thanks Hollis. I've never heard of them before. But I bet Black Francis had at least their first album in his shelf. I might need to give the early songs a bit more time. The songs you've linked from chomp got me immediately, though. I will now check out the whole album! Thanks again for introducing me to their music!
My pleasure! They’re definitely one of those bands that grow on you the more you listen to them. Chomp is magnificent. And yes, Black Francis had ALL the right influences!
Just picked up a copy of Gyrate because of this video! Such a great sound this band has. Gonna rewatch this vid to see if my notes match up with yours.
Hey Man, thank you for this. I have their complete discography downloaded, like them for years,but never really knew too much about them. Your enthusiasm is contageous, i will relisten it all. Tonight.
Thank you, my friend! So happy I could get you listening to them again! Whenever I go a while without playing Pylon, I always forget how much I love them. Then, when I finally throw one of their albums on, they're like a revelation.
Hello Hollis, During the Pylon heyday, I was in my early twenties, working in restaurants and going to college. I spent any left over cash I had on lps, and at the time (1980s) the Indy rock scene was bursting with competition for my dollar. Camper Van Beethoven, Replacements, Minutemen etc, nudged Pylon to the side. Also, I had to catch up on the classic 70s and 60s stuff. Thanks for showing me what I missed out on. Gonna Spotify more of these guys. Besides Wire, I pick up some Feelies here as well.
Hey Greg! Thanks for the comment! Sounds like you spent what dollars you had the right way, but there were so many great bands back then a few fell through the cracks for all of us. Good call on the Feelies! I wouldn't be surprised if some of those crazy rhythms sunk into their sound.
Hi, Hollis. As a native Georgian you're always a couple of degrees of separation from Pylon, REM and The B-52's, all of which you've done wonderful videos on. I really need to go see the Pylon Reenactment Society. Sad to say I never saw REM. In your video I agree with loving the song "Moral Kiosk", but completely disagree about "Shiny Happy People". That song makes me happy every time I hear it. And how great is it that Kate Pierson added guest vocals! Keep up the great videos!
Thank you so much, Maria! Those kind words mean a lot from true fan like you. And to each her/his own when it comes to songs. I can't fault you for liking SHP; it's a brilliantly crafted song that was designed to make people happy. It's just not my cup of tea. And I agree that Kate Pierson makes EVERYTHING better! Thanks for the comment!
10:10 This is the point I caught them on this album. I was in Germany in the 3ID. I must have had "Chain," on cassette. Then Iraq. Years later got the CD which I still have. I really like "Chain."
one day I hope to see a pop culture graveyard video about the walking seeds, not holding my breath tho, feels like I'm the only person who's heard of them! btw when you mentioned no love lost by joy division, that was the first tune I heard by them when I was working with a fella who was playing them 20 odd years ago , tune that, I'll have to listen to it again
Haha! What are you trying to do to me? I have a small audience already, and I cover way better-known bands than the Walkingseeds. I will say, though, they deserve to be better known. All their Peel Sessions are fantastic, and they were WAY ahead of the curve in the mid-'80s with regard to the sound that would dominate the '90s. Thanks for the comment!
@@HollisCrew @Hollis James hey man thanks for the reply, , I had a feeling you'd know them, anyway ill be tuned in for whatever's in the pipeline, great channel mate
have loved Pylon from the moment I put Chomp on my turntable! lyrically, I think Pylon shares Wire's approach as well as Minutemen (seeing that fellow Athens group REM covered Wire, it makes sense that they'd know of them). another band that I think has a lot in common with Pylon is Antietam-in particular, the latter's self-titled debut. but for that energetic post-punk funk, Pylon is peerless!
Very well said, Robert! Yes, Wire were a major influence on that whole Athens crowd. As for Pylon, they had so many disparate influences--from Kraftwerk to the Stooges. You know, I never really got much into Antietam. Their male-female dual vocals seemed like they were trying to sound like X, but they always just sounded off key to me. But musically I hear what you mean. Thanks for the comment!
Good stuff. And yea, "Cool" sounds so much like "No Love Lost" that the first time I heard it I had a bit of a negative reaction (there is a fine line between homage and theft), but they bring enough of their own to the song that I ended up liking it anyway. If nothing else it tells you they have great taste ("No Love Lost" is one of my favorite Joy Division tracks).
I just came across your channel, amazing videos! Pylon is such an incredible band thank you for shedding a spotlight on them! Recommendation- check out Suburban Lawns, another early 80's post-punk gem of a band with a killer female vocalist
Thank you, my friend! So glad you're enjoying the episodes, and welcome to the channel! As for your recommendation, you probably won't be surprised to know that I mentioned them in an episode already. It's an earlier video, so please excuse the dark lighting: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CqxmKIo1aRw.html
Great deep dive! Gyrate is a classic post punk record. Didn’t think Chomp was as good , and Chain is just ok. Have to share this , never saw this Uma Thurman movie ,but some how came across this clip years ago. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bo1mDj-QceE.html
Thanks, Kevin! Glad you enjoyed the episode! Can't believe that clip, I never saw that movie before. I just looked up the film--it's got a killer soundtrack: Pylon, Santigold, Syd Straw, The Go-Betweens, Shakespear's Sister, etc. Pretty cool. Thanks for sharing!
My copy of Chomp came with an actual postcard from which the album cover picture was taken. Not sure if it was shipped that way new, as I bought it used over 30 years ago!
