Ridiculously good for a debut EP (Chronic Town - R.E.M.)

Member Name: Wezzo

Product:	Chronic Town - R.E.M.
Date:	17/04/08 (107 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Superb songs

Disadvantages: Can only be found on CD as part of the "Dead Letter Office" compilation

Released a year before R.E.M.'s first full-length studio album (1983's "Murmur"), "Chronic Town" captures the unique sound of one of the all-time great bands on the brink of something truly special. It's all here: jangling melodies, Stipe's mumbled vocals, Buck's fabulous arpeggiated chords, Mills' smooth harmonies - everything one associates with early R.E.M. Even better, it holds up brilliantly well: it's almost impossible to believe that it's now over 25 years old. This is where "alternative rock" began. If the prospect of jangly pop, folk rock and lo-fi garage music being combined even remotely appeals to you, this is compulsory listening.

Things kick off (on the original release, at least) with "1,000,000". A sign of what's to come, the verse lyrics are nigh-on incomprehensible; the chorus refrain of "I could live a million years" the only immediate clue as to the song's narrative. That doesn't hinder the song though, which is immediately memorable; though it lacks the atmosphere a couple of later tracks manage to evoke.

"Stumble" is next, juxtaposing a jangly, hummable chorus with with darker, tenser verses. It's probably the most forgettable song here but it's still solid.

"Wolves, Lower" is the set's strongest track. Somehow managing to convey a palpable atmosphere of mystery, suspense and paranoia even before Michael Stipe begins to chant the "Suspicion yourself / Don't get caught" refrain, it's jumpy and unsettled while still engrossing the listener in with an absurd number of hooks. It's melodic and accessible but also thrilling and anxious; it deserves to be remembered as one of R.E.M.'s greatest achievements.

"Gardening At Night" is almost hypnotic in its charm - it has a discernible chorus, discernible verses, but Stipe's vocals remain almost subliminal, and atonal, throughout. It's once again hook-laden - a thoroughly memorable, pretty and melodic song. R.E.M. enthusiasts may also want to check out the "Different Vocal Mix" version found on the "Eponymous" compilation, which some argue the superior cut of the track - though I'd be inclined to disagree.

"Carnival Of Sorts (Box Cars)", the EP's final track, continues the jangly trend. Another superb cut, the chorus creeps up on you from nowhere, and the catchy "Out of town / Boxcars" contrasts wonderfully with the rather more impenetrable verses.

Indeed, "impenetrable" pretty much sums this EP up. Not musically - it's accessible to even those brought up on the staunchest diet of top-40 mediocrity. But Stipe's mumbling lyrics... choruses aside, they are nigh-on incomprehensible and only vaguely coherent - even Stipe himself has acknowledged that even he's unsure of some of the precise wording in these songs. But if you think of the vocals as "just another instrument", as the band have suggested in the past, and let yourself drift away into the music, you will soon find they add to, rather than detract from, the experience. The lyrics have in, many cases, been chosen because they sound right, not because they make sense - a tactic that absolutely works here. That's not to say the decision to shift away from this style later in the 1980s was a bad one, but here, it's hard to imagine any other vocal delivery fitting the music quite so well.

"Chronic Town" can be purchased on vinyl or cassette second-hand from Amazon. Sadly, you can't buy the EP alone on CD; but you can buy it as part of the B-sides-and-rarities package "Dead Letter Office" (it's the last five tracks on there), which can found for less than a fiver on Amazon Marketplace anyway. (Curiously, though, the ordering of the tracks is slightly changed on "Dead Letter Office"; though that's no great shakes as this hardly a concept album.) You could also, of course, download the tracks from iTunes.

Summary: An outstanding band on the verge of brilliance