Pylon's website says it all - "Cool" - in the same bold, squared-off letters that adorned its seminal 7-inch single in 1980. Although the Athens, Ga. dance-punk four-piece never found the commercial success of fellow Classic City compatriots R.E.M. and the B-52s, the band laid the foundations of its hometown's renowned music scene and -- like the traffic cone of its logo -- helped re-direct rock to an alternative route, if you will.
This October, Pylon will bring this hipness back to CDs when DFA Records releases its out-of-print debut album, Gyrate, in said format for the first time ever. Remastered and expanded to include the Cool/Dub single and unreleased 1979 track "Functionality," it comes with a booklet full of liner notes by longtime Pylon promoters Fred Schneider (B-52's), Hugo Burnham (Gang of Four) and Michael Stipe.
The group has re-activated itself in recent years, playing numerous gigs around Georgia, including a Gang of Four show in Athens where singer Vanessa Briscoe Hay and Stipe joined Burnham and company on stage for "I Love A Man in Uniform." It has to be said -- "Cool" might be an understatement.
Related links:
WeArePylon.com
Pylon on MySpace
DFARecords.com
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