REM celebrates 40th anniversary of debut EP

Available for first time on standalone CD

Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, R.E.M.’s debut EP, Chronic Town, will be released for the first time ever as a standalone CD with extensive liner notes by the original producer Mitch Easter. It will be released on CD, LP Picture Disc, and cassette on August 19th via I.R.S./UMe.

The five-song EP features R.E.M. classic’s such as as “Gardening At Night,” “Wolves, Lower,” and “1,000,000.” As a debut release, Chronic Town became an anomaly, a record that didn’t quite fit into the constraints of what was played on the radio. So instead of trying to fit into a genre, R.E.M. helped create their own: College rock. The follow-up to their breakthrough single “Radio Free Europe” which was released in 1981, Chronic Town served as the entry point to what would become one of alternative rock’s biggest bands.

“One might fancifully say that Chronic Town was the sound of an expedition, ready for anything, setting forth,” says Easter fondly about the EP. “If R.E.M. ‘Radio Free Europe’ single was a signpost, the Chronic Town EP was the atlas.”

Introducing their arpeggiated guitar playing, cryptic and often indecipherable lyrics, and radiant choruses that would soon emerge as signatures of the classic R.E.M. sound, Chronic Town is the sound of a restless band, chock-full of ideas, operating on a post-collegiate budget. Charmingly ragged and refreshingly immediate, it established the band indelibly upon impact. “Wolves, Lower” opens the EP with Michael Stipe’s trademark impressionistic and idiosyncratic lyrics, while Mike Mills’ rubbery bass lines and Peter Buck’s jangly Rickenbacker keeps Bill Berry’s unpredictable drumming in check. It’s this combination that would not only fuel the band for subsequent decades but make them equally as dependable as songsmiths. Serving as a template for ‘80s college jangle pop, “Gardening At Night” forged a style that combined heartily strummed rhythm guitars with a meandering bass line that proved to be a solid blueprint for college bands to come.

1. Wolves, Lower
2. Gardening At Night
3. Carnival Of Sorts (Boxcars)
4. 1,000,000
5. Stumble

Buddy Iahn
Buddy Iahn

Buddy Iahn founded The Music Universe when he decided to juxtapose his love of web design and music. As a lifelong drummer, he decided to take a hiatus from playing music to report it. The website began as a fun project in 2013 to one of the top independent news sites. Email: info@themusicuniverse.com