Liner Notes 20.Oct.2022
R.E.M.'s Eponymous at 34, new music from Katie Crutchfield, and more!
It’s a Choose Your Own Adventure newsletter this week! Want to look back at R.E.M’s Eponymous? Check out the latest EP from Hazel English? How about some rock from the Twin Cities? It’s all here under a Man Ray kind of sky and waiting for you.
Let’s jump right in!
R.E.M.- Eponymous
Most bands would be lucky enough to last seven years and put out enough material to issue a compilation or "greatest hits" record with any intellectual honesty. By 1988, R.E.M. had not only done with Eponymous; it wasn't even their first one of the sort-- Dead Letter Office having been released only the year before1.
While Dead Letter Office falls squarely into the compilation camp, in hindsight, Eponymous is right at home in greatest hits territory- though, at the time, these didn't exactly hit.
And there are some alternative versions of songs & rarities, such as the remix of "Finest Worksong" (with horns!)- the version that, IMO, should've made the record (it's one of three representing the band's Document LP).
"Romance" didn't appear on any R.E.M. record at all.
And, of course, there is plenty here for fans already familiar with the band. "Driver 8," "Radio Free Europe" (as an alternate version), and "South Central Rain" are all here.
Eponymous serves as a waypoint in the band's discography and style trajectory. It marks the transition from a jangly pop band to a more refined sound from a band starting to take themselves much more seriously. It denotes the shift from "college rock darlings" to a full-fledged pop band.
It's also the last record issued with I.R.S. records before they moved to Warner Brothers, releasing Green only a month later(!). In my case, Eponymous was still warm in my Walkman when I picked up Green2. I’d spend most of the next few months switching between the two.
Greatest Hits...Compilation...B-sides/rarities. All fit. Perhaps the record is best viewed as a great time capsule and an on-ramp to the band's early work. Eponymous is a perfect introduction for anyone trying to decide which of the band's first five regular records to pick up. It's a sampler of when the band's music was passed from floor to floor in the dorms and from older siblings to younger ones.
Or "greatest hits so far," if you will. Not just for R.E.M. but for many to follow. The record's alternate tile was "File Under Grain," owing to the cover photo. That may have been wry humor, but Eponymous did serve as a seed spreader; Much of 90s alternative music starts here; Eponymous' fingerprints are everywhere in that music.
Favorites: Radio Free Europe, Fall On Me, Finest Worksong
Other Reviews
Hazel English- Summer Nights EP
Earlier this week, I was very surprised to learn that Creedence Clearwater Revival wasn't from a swamp flat but the East Bay. Today, I learned that Hazel English isn't from somewhere like Bristol in the UK but rather…is based in the East Bay (an Australian native, she moved to California as an exchange student). I don't know why I always associate this sort of dream pop with the UK. Blame it on MBV, I suppose.
At any rate, Summer Nights is a bit like cotton candy. Delicious, makes you feel good and doesn't stick with you. That's not always a bad thing, of course. As much as I like to make fun of "just vibes" music, sometimes something that reminds you of sunny days at the beach is what you need most- especially if it's already snowing in October. WHICH IT TOTALLY IS AS I TYPE THIS.
Favorites: Summer Nights, When You’re Around
Plains- I Walked With You A Ways
Plains is Katie Crutchfield (who performs as Waxahatchee) and Jess Williamson. The two were raised in the deep south (Alabama & Texas, respectively), and I walked With You A Ways sings like a postcard from their formative years. The songs are from a place where everyone has a front porch, a truck, and sweet tea is the drink of choice. No one tries to downplay their drawl here. Crutchfield and Williamson's styles and voices mesh perfectly with one another and the music. The songs check the usual boxes; heartbreak, patience, resolve, resignation, weather, and long drives to nowhere.
Many traditional country songs are about running from something or running toward it. I Walked With You A Ways is the sound of two singers running toward the record they've always wanted to make.
Favorites: Problem With It, Abilene
The Dead Century- The Well
The Dead Century hails from the Twin Cities and cites bands like The Hold Steady and Weakerthans as influences. The Well is a straightforward rock album with narrative-driven lyrics. It's the sort of music Soul Asylum or even Gin Blossoms once made. In many ways, this record could only have been made in Minneapolis.
Favorites: Exit On An Interstate, Realign
Thoughts on any of these? Any records you think I should review?
What Was On
List of records I was able to listen to in full this week.
REM-Eponymous
St. Pepsi- Winners Circle
Tom Petty-Damn The Torpedoes
France Gall- Poupée de cire, poupée de son
High Vis- Blending
Van Halen- Fair Warning
David Lee Roth- Eat ‘em and Smile
Mighty Mighty Bosstones- More Noise & Other Disturbances
Alice In Chains- Dirt
Fastbacks- Truth, Corrosion, and Sour Bisquits
Alvvays- Blue Rev
Terra Pines-Downbeats
R.E.M.-Fables of the Reconstruction
Hubba-Empty Dreams EP
Big Star-Radio City
The 5th Dimension- Up, Up, and Away
Bjork-Debut
Yo La Tengo- President Yo La Tango/New Wave Hot Dogs
Fleetwood Mac- Tusk
Fleetwood Mac- Mirage
Chris Canterbury-Quaalude Lullabies
Pearl Jam-Vs.
Kashif-S/T
Alex Kozobolis-Somewhere Else
Rickie Lee Jones- Pirate
What have you been listening to?
B-Sides
The Enduring Allure Of Choose Your Own Adventure Books
At key junctures in the story, Packard would ask his daughters what they thought Pete should do next, and when they gave different answers he’d play out both possibilities. Packard remembers this innovation as a function of necessity—“If I’d been a better storyteller, we never would have gotten the form. . . . I’d get stumped, and ask the girls what should happen next”—but Andrea recalls it as an instance of his generosity. He wanted to give each girl her own ending, just as he was always meticulously fair in his distribution of snacks, compliments, and attention.
Obviously a bit off menu for a music publication, but these books were a massive part of my childhood, and I’d guess many of yours as well. Any trip to the Washington Square Mall meant a side trip into B. Dalton’s.
If there was a new book out, it was a red letter day. I didn’t just skim these or cheat by looking ahead. I devoured them. I’d read and re-read each one. Take every possible combination of paths I could manage. Then do it again, over and over, into oblivion.
Fleetwood Mac records ranked from worst to first.
I’m still tumbling down a bit of a “Tusk” rabbit hole this week, so it was inevitable that I’d stumble onto a whole bunch of these lists. Putting “Rumours” in the top spot is the default option for every one of these (seriously; do they just cut-n-paste that in and work their way backward?). One of these days, I’ll find one that switches it up. If you see one, let me know.
In the meantime, this list has some compelling choices inside the top 10.
An Encounter with Mark E. Smith of The Fall
More than anything, though, I wanted to sink into a pub with him during a long afternoon session, exploring the outer realms of bar-room philosophy together, capturing those jewels for print.
Instead, I sat in the airless mezzanine of the Lime Lizard office in Highbury New Park, sweating. I was extremely nervous. This was my first phone interview, with my Excalibur interviewee. I had no parameters for the experience. It would just be me, on the phone to Mark E. Smith, asking him questions about the Fall.
I stared at the telephone. We were not friends. Most telephone conversations I had were brief: what time can you get there; why have you stopped my housing benefit, etc. If I could put off a phone call, I always did. I hated speaking into the darkness, listening for the pause to return.
Anything involving Smith had the potential to become an adventure. This 1991 interview proved no different.
A good tweet:
Thanks for being here,
Kevin—
Dead Letter Office (and to an extent, Eponymous) is seen by many as a cash grab by IRS; the label knew the band would soon outgrow them. Which they, in fact, did.
I was also lucky enough to see the band while they were touring the record. It was at the Memorial Coliseum, then the premier “large” venue in Portland. By this point, the band had fully transformed into a group that could fill a place that size.
Lot to comment about on this one...
Being a Replacements fan, I've always been fascinated by the "rivalry" with R.E.M. Peter Buck of course contributed the guitar solo to "I Will Dare," and Westerberg has said the reason R.E.M. was more successful commercially was because The Replacements refused to play the corporate game. (Plenty of evidence of that.)
"Eponymous" and "Dead Letter Office" could be seen as (and likely were) cash grabs by IRS, and it surprised me that Twin Tone didn't try to do some of the same with The Replacements when they signed to Sire. I've always sort of viewed "Document" — I saw that tour, BTW, too, with The DBs opening — as akin to "Let It Be" because it got all the acclaim necessary for R.E.M. to sign with Warners.
I've seen Crutchfield open twice for Jason Isbell as Waxahatchee, and I agree with your assessment about Plains. I don't see it as circumventing their day jobs, but you never know. She's been leaning this way live when I've seen her.
And finally, about Fleetwood Mac... I see Tusk as their version of The Clash's "Sandinista" — several great songs but a lot of esoteric bloat. I like the list you linked to, but I would switch the order of the top three. For me, the self-titled album is the revelation, then you have "Rumours" followed by "Tusk."
Great read...
Fun fact about the Mighty Mighty BosstoneS: I went to school with one of the band members (saxophone ) in Alaska. His name is Kevin too!