One of my fave music zines of all time was the New York Rocker, which did a wonderful job back then covering the exploding US indie scene. In the Sept. 81 issue, The Cramps on the cover, which I dutifully bought, in the spotlight on demo tapes was one from this Athens GA band, and the reviewer labeled it as a pick*hit. Some highlights from the review....
R.E.M. attempt a new twist on guitar-laden pop, but the reference points are the stuff of dreams: Flamin' Groovies, Cure, Pretenders, Big Star......"Sitting Still" threatens to stand tall with the brighter moments of "Shake Some Action", "Boys Don't Cry", "Talk Of The Town", and "September Gurls". "Radio Free Europe is particularly Cure-ish, though less stark. And strains of surf and drag-beat make "White Tornado" a real winner in a field populated by too many second raters who've missed the point of the Ventures and Dick Dale. R.E.M. are a good, potentially great, group....I just couldn't see any A&R rep turning this one down!!!!(Then you haven't seen many A&R Reps lately!!.....ED.) DO send a follow-up.
As a result, I kept an eye out for these guys, though the Hib-Tone single never made it up here to the stores, so I had to wait until Chronic Town came out a year later.
Fave gig: June 84, with The Dream Syndicate, Stipe is on crutches after an oceanic mishap in San Diego a couple of days before, an extremely packed night club is one sweaty mass of whirling bodies. The band was in great spirits, and the sublime version of the previously unheard Wendell Gee as one of the encores took my breath away.
Too many fave songs like Strange Currencies, Crush With Eyeliner, King Of Birds, Belong, Radio Free Europe, Time After Time, Gardening At Night, etc...
Fave albums: Automatic, Murmur, Document, Reveal.
Best cover I've heard: Have You Ever Seen The Rain? and Arms Of Love.
worst cover: Sex Bomb by Flipper and Where's Captain Kirk by Spizz.