R.E.M.—Chronic Town

R.E.M.—Chronic Town

Chronic Town—Oft-forgotten in the wake of Murmur (1983), R.E.M.'s American classic, is their actual debut record, Chronic Town. Technically, their first recorded and distributed item was "Radio Free Europe"/"Sitting Still" (one of only eight recordings released on independent label Hib-Tone), featuring a frenzied version of the former; both songs would later appear on Murmur, rerecorded. Before the single, even, R.E.M. was turning heads in their native Athens, Georgia. A concert review by William Barnes dated May 7th, 1980 for The Red & Black, University of Georgia's student newspaper, stated that in the band's third-ever concert, the set list included Johnny Kidd & the Pirates' "Shakin' All Over," "Secret Agent Man" (theme from Danger Man), and Paul Revere & the Raiders or the Monkees' "I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone," while their "original material was even more amazing ... They switched tracks from funky R&B to pulsating reggae with an ease and speed that belied their short history."

R.E.M.'s members, both individually and collectively, have been known to have wide-ranging influences. Their B-sides (collected later for Dead Letter Office [1987], the CD release of which includes Chronic Town) showed eclectic stylistic origins: the Velvet Underground, Aerosmith, Roger Miller, and fellow Athens natives Pylon. Rather than put this sort of originals-plus-covers mix to their EP, however, they submitted five idiosyncratic pieces that did not sound quite like anything that came before it. At the same time, it all has an archetypal familiarity that's hard to pin down. "Wolves, Lower," which was also the band's first music video, is typical of this. Lead singer Michael Stipe inverts and plays with idioms ("put wolves out the door" rather than "wolf at the door") in an interpretive manner that would become his hallmark for the rest of the band's career. "Gardening at Night," the EP's only major-key song, as explained by drummer Bill Berry (liner notes of And I Feel Fine... The Best of the I.R.S Years 1982–1987) was written for this reason: "We were driving at night after a show ... 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.'"

"Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars)," a strange, vestigial yarn, repeats the line, "don't get caught," from "Wolves, Lower," which establishes a theme of secrecy, combined with fragments of rural imagery. That song also originates the names of the album and its sides ("Chronic Town" and "Poster Torn"); the "Poster Torn" side begins with "1,000,000," conjuring near-Lovecraft visions of ancientness and esoteric threats ("Secluded in a marker stone/Not only deadlier, but smarter too ... All along the tomb, secret in the ruin ... I could live a million years"). "Stumble" reads like a journal pastiche, evoking small-town sensibilities and the confusion of youth.

Although it was not quite at the level of the records to follow, Chronic Town showcased four musicians with an uncanny sense of what it takes to make music as a band. Its songs are marginally too slight to be considered classics, but it was leagues ahead of what most bands of the time were doing, even established ones. Its force of personality and inspiration make it a fresh listen even years after the band's retirement.