Pylon

Despite failing to equal the commercial success or cross-cultural impact of their Athens, GA, compatriots R.E.M. and the B-52's, Pylon's influence on the city's legendary music scene proved just as pronounced — the group's propulsive, angular jangle pop sound resonated not only through the Athens creative community but throughout the American pop underground of the 1980s, and though more heard-of than actually heard, their role as elder statesmen of the alternative rock explosion is unassailable. Borrowing their name from the William Faulkner novel, Pylon were founded by guitarist Randy Bewley and bassist Michael Lachowski, University of Georgia art students inspired by the likes of Television, the Ramones, and Talking Heads; the twosome soon sublet practice space in a studio loft rented by local artist Curtis Crowe, who quickly signed on to play drums. After auditioning a series of vocalists, the band finally settled on fellow UGA student Vanessa Briscoe, whose distinctive yelping style ideally complemented the music's jagged guitars and martial rhythms.

The quartet made its live debut in March 1979; that summer, the B-52's became the darlings of the New York scene thanks to their breakthrough hit "Rock Lobster," and their success paved the way for Pylon to make their own Big Apple debut, with Philadelphia and Boston appearances following before the school year resumed. Pylon's debut single, "Cool," appeared on the dB label in early 1980, earning strong critical notices and emerging as a major underground dance hit; that summer, they issued their debut LP Gyrate, also opening for the B-52's in New York's Central Park. Pylon toured regularly leading up to — and in the wake of — their sophomore effort, 1983's Chomp, but dissatisfied with the finished LP, and also disheartened by an abortive tour in support of U2, the band dissolved.

In the group's absence, Athens emerged as the nexus of the American underground thanks largely to the snowballing success of R.E.M., who regularly cited Pylon as a major influence on their music; in fact, when in 1987 Rolling Stone named R.E.M. "America's Best Band," drummer Bill Berry argued the honor actually belonged to Pylon, even though the group had disbanded four years earlier. Their posthumous recognition, in tandem with the impending release of dB's Hits compilation, convinced Pylon to re-form in 1988; after opening for R.E.M. on their Green tour, they also recorded a new album, 1990's Chain. With Bewley's decision to leave the lineup, however, Pylon again called its quits, playing their final show at Athens' famed 40 Watt Club on November 22, 1991. Less than two decades later, following a number of brief band reunions, the DFA label expanded and reissued Gyrate (as Gyrate Plus, 2007) and Chomp (as Chomp More, 2009). Bewley's life was taken by a heart attack a few months prior to the latter's reappearance.