Episode 043: Pylon
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When I think back to when I first heard Pylon in 1979, I think it was on Hofstra University's radio station, WRHU, and my favorite DJ there, Jeff Foss, playing the songs Feast on My Heart and Volume amid any night's set list of amazing underground music when I was growing up in Queens, NY. I quickly bought Pylon's album Gyrate and later a 10" EP (with their earlier single and b-sides) and became a long-time fan of Pylon's music.
The band included then, and now, Randy Bewley on guitar, Vanessa Briscoe Hay's vocals, Curtis Crowe on drums, and Michael Lachowski on bass.
A brief history of Pylon? Four University of Georgia art students turned musicians inspired by the debut of music from groups such as The B-52's in Athens, Georgia formed their own band and recorded the single Cool/Dub (1979), albums Gyrate (1980) and Chomp (1983), all on DB Records, and a third album recorded during a reunion, Chain (1990) for Sky Records ...then disappeared again for too many years. A more detailed history can be found at wikipedia, the All Music Guide, and a terrific fan site.
In 2004 Pylon started playing together again and, thankfully, Gyrate can be heard by a new generation given its October 2007 re-mastering and re-release by DFA Records (now titled Gyrate Plus, given it includes the Cool/Dub single). Pylon did a brief east coast tour in early November and, with any luck, it is all going so well that we'll also see a re-release of Chomp on CD and some more live dates. I do focus on the music from Gyrate in this interview, but Chomp features some of Pylon's best-known songs, including Crazy, Beep, M-Train, and K—and I snuck in a bit of Beep at the end of the interview.
Music fans will know that the late '70s/early '80s in Athens, Georgia was a particularly creative period of time, also birthing The B-52s, R.E.M., The Method Actors, Love Tractor, and Oh-Ok. Pylon has, in truth, gone down in musical history as one of those most original bands that may not have had huge commercial success, but who has influenced an untold number of other musicians through their approach and style. Many will also know Pylon by way of R.E.M.'s cover of their song Crazy, which appeared as a B-side and later on Dead Letter Office. When Rolling Stone named R.E.M. "America's Best Band" in 1987, R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry said, "We're not the best rock 'n' roll band in America." Pylon, he said, was the best.
Pylon, who took their name from William Faulkner's novel, often get filed under the post-punk or new wave label, which probably made sense at the time for music critics, but today it doesn't mean much and Pylon's music doesn’t sound dated in the least. Gyrate is an album with angular rhythms and a simplicity that makes the music feel utilitarian, but always had enough funk behind it that the motivation seemed to be to get you up on the dancefloor. In a similar realm to The Bush Tetras, Gang of Four, or The Au Pairs, Pylon really created a language all their own using the very traditional line-up of vocals, guitar, bass, and drums. With simple, danceable, repetitive, funky music paired with Briscoe's raspy, primal, urgent vocals, Pylon’s music was unlike anything I'd heard—or have heard since—and it still stands up.
For those that want to take a look at Pylon in action, there is video online, including a live performance of Working is No Problem from the early '80s, a live performance of the unreleased song Party Zone from the early '80s, a mini documentary from the early '80s, a live performance of Crazy and Beep from 1990, a music video of Look Alive from Chain, a live performance of Danger from 2007, and a live performance of Volume from 2007.
Sometime in October I happened upon the information that Pylon would be playing at The Mercury Lounge in Manhattan in early November and I knew it would be worth a drive from Boston. Not surprisingly, the show was amazing (with opening act Antietam, another favorite band from a slightly later era of New York-based music...and you’ll hear sound checking in the background at the start of the interview) and Pylon’s music kept the sold-out audience dancing and having a chance to enjoy their music live once again.
I sat down with Crowe and Lachowski in the band room at The Mercury Lounge before their show to discuss:
* how and why this landmark debut album was recorded
* why their main goal was to get written up in The New York Rocker
* what other plans the band has now that they’re back together
Photo credit: Jason Thrasher
If you enjoy this trip back in time, be sure to check out Well-Rounded Radio interviews with Clint Conley of consonant and Mission of Burma, Dan Zanes of The Del Fuegoes and Dan Zanes and Friends, and Jonathan Kane of Swans and Jonathan Kane's February.
