Category: Indie Rock

THROWBACK THURSDAY | "DEER GOD RADIO 171: R.E.M."

1/26/2023

photo & text by nacrowe

its hard for me to overstate how foundational the music of R.E.M. was for me as a music listener, as some of my earliest memories of experiencing new music was both the OUT OF TIME (WARNER BROS, 1991) and MONSTER (WARNER BROS, 1994) albums. ironically it was the former record that got me interested in playing guitar as a first grader. its ironic because that was the specific album in their discography where guitarist PETER BUCK essentially abandoned the instrument in favor of mandolin.

i think with those initial OUT OF TIME singles like "SHINY HAPPY PEOPLE" and "LOSING MY RELIGION" there was a sense of both pop abandon and real pathos in the LYRICS, MANNERISM and VOCALS of singer MICHAEL STIPE. its interesting that he was one of my earliest introductions to a 'rock singer' given his AMBIVALANCE to fame and his highly IDIOSYNCRATIC presentation that showcased a COMPLICATED figure with strong ideas and a seemingly UNDEFINABLE sexuality, this in addition to his obvious INTELLIGENCE and CHARISMA. STIPE was (and still is) a real MERCURIAL and COMPELLING figure, especially for a curious seven year old.

when MONSTER came out the tone was more SOMBER and AGGRESSIVE with singles like "STAR 69," "BANG AND BLAME," "WHAT'S THE FREQUENCY, KENNETH?" and "CRUSH WITH EYELINER." all the guitar feedback and lyrics about DISLOCATION, strained relationships and potential VIOLENCE was a world away from "SHINY HAPPY PEOPLE" and was more in keeping with the NIRVANA, SOUNDGARDEN and PEARL JAM songs i heard on the radio station 106.7 FM KROQ out of nearby LOS ANGELES that bordered ORANGE COUNTY where i lived growing up. both visually and aurally, MONSTER was a major record for me growing up and was somewhat of an introduction to the aggressively REFLECTIVE and SELF-DISPARAGING aesthetic of ALTERNATIVE ROCK much as OUT OF TIME was an introduction to the PLAINTIVE, direct songwriting stylings of INDIE ROCK.

whats interesting to me as an adult looking back is how arguably the STRONGEST R.E.M. record ever made, AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE (WARNER BROS, 1991), which came out between OUT OF TIME and MONSTER, was not in the mix for me during that period. until discovering it later in my late teens i had no memory of the record whatsoever. back in the early and mid 1990s there was no SPOTIFY or YOUTUBE, just the tail end of a national cassette trading network that i was not privy to at that age. i was literally only aware of what was on the radio and what my parents, usually my father, added to their CD collection. getting compact discs was a REVELATORY ritual up until the birth of MP3 trading and disc burning that began when i was in high school in the late 1990s and later the adoption of the iPod that came about a few years into the new millennium. prior to such i was TRANSFIXED to the ARTWORK and details of PACKAGING and their connection to musical content. that experience with OUT OF TIME and MONSTER was as TRANSCENDENT an experience as the music itself in many ways. that eye to visual ICONOGRAPHY, TYPOGRAPHY, LAYOUT and GRAPHIC DESIGN vocabulary in general was an education in and of itself and my earliest VIVD memories of experiencing such, again are probably those two records (as well as LIVING COLOUR, SOUNDGARDEN and PEARL JAM releases from that same period).

i find it more than amusing that since i began parodying album covers in an effort to promote my regular DEER GOD RADIO show at nonprofit radio station MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC, the only pushback i ever got back was from 'angry' R.E.M. supporters. i was told on INSTAGRAM by a random person that STIPE didnt take kindly to people stealing from him and would sue me to oblivion. my hope and expectation is that if he did discover my promotional parodies he would be delighted by them as a LOVING homage to a band i ADORE and have respected since childhood. i certainly make no money from such and nor does the station. all that being said, R.E.M. please dont sue me.

embedded below is a DEER GOD RADIO episode from the spring of 2022 on nonprofit internet radio station MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC dedicated to the music of R.E.M. from throughout their extensive catalogue. enjoy!

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