Chronic Town

Certain Songs #1689: R.E.M. – “Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars)”

November 25, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Chronic Town EP
Year: 1982

. . .

File Under Gentlemen

Chronic Town has always kind of been the red-headed stepchild of the R.E.M. catalog. While sonically, it’s one of the most unified of all of their records, and for me at least, has the sentimental value of being my introduction to the band, it’s kinda been consigned to the dustbin of history.

I mean, comparatively speaking, of course.

Certain Songs #1688: R.E.M. – “Gardening at Night”

November 24, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Chronic Town EP
Year: 1982

File Under Penitence

“Gardening at Night” just might be my favorite R.E.M. song . . .

It was early 1985, and I wanted to try singing in a band again. I’d done so in 1980-1981, and while it didn’t end well — I got tossed out for a guy who could, you know, actually sing — I was eager to try again.

After all, it was the mid-1980s, and if you loved music, you tried to be in a band. Because that’s what R.E.M. and The Replacements did. In this case, that band was called The Exploding Neon Kittens, because of course it was. I don’t really recall how the Exploding Neon Kittens got together, but Joe played guitar, Damian played drums and Rocky, who was a few years younger, played bass. We practiced in Damian’s basement, because that’s where the drums were.

Certain Songs #1687: R.E.M. – “Wolves, Lower”

November 23, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Chronic Town EP
Year: 1982

File Under Suspicion

So let’s begin the begin.

I may have read about R.E.M. prior to opening up the issue of Trouser Press that contained a flexi-disc that had “Wolves, Lower” on one side and the Lords of The New Church “Russian Roulette” — after all, the original Hib-Tone “Radio Free Europe” single came out in 1981 to some critical acclaim — but I sure hadn’t heard them.