PYLON - Gyrate LP

Highly recommended.

While Pylon wasn't the first of its kind (Gang Of Four, WIRE, Television, X, etc. had been going for a couple of years), there is something genuinely unique about the jigsaw puzzle of Bewley's churning rhythm guitar and surfy leads, Vanessa's strangely syllabic vocal style, Curtis's relentless beyond-Charlie Watts four-on-the-floor, and Michael's maddeningly danceable key-of-E bass lines. This first album perfectly captures the flavor of the live act with a production that manages to be both raw and undeniably 80's at the same time, by Bruce Baxter and Pylon.

While the B-52's and R.E.M. spread the Athens sound to the masses, Pylon remained at the heart of the Athens scene, with a handful of people in-the-know around the world lucky enough to catch wind also becoming fans. It was never a goal to become big, or even make a career out of it--it was just another art project made by people who met up in art classes at UGA, and it ended without remorse, late in 1983, not more than a year after Chomp was released.