R.E.M. - Chronic Town (1982)
Artist: R.E.M.
Author:
Date: 04/24/2026 (originally written August 2022)
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It's the 40th anniversary of Chronic Town's release, so it felt appropriate to make it the thing I review today. Honestly, I think it's one of R.E.M.'s weaker releases, but it's not bad by any means and you can see flashes of what was to come.
The thing about this EP that most feels like its successor is the lyricism. They've already got that whole thing going where you're only getting brief snatches of clarity. Things like "it must be time for penitence", "gentlemen don't get caught", or "not only deadlier, but smarter too". But unlike Murmur, these little soundbites don't really add up to a larger meaning. They're just evocative-feeling fragments without direction.
This part is probably better suited to a review of Murmur or Reckoning, but something that's always felt weird about R.E.M.'s discography is how it's the latter that's always felt closest sonically to Chronic Town. Murmur is a post-punk album that jangles a bit, whereas the other two are more straightforwardly jangle pop with a bit of post-punk influence. In fact, Chronic Town is perhaps the jangliest of all their releases. Though to me, the most rewarding element of this EP is that Michael Stipe gives us a rare falsetto lead vocal in "Gardening at Night", which I think is one of his best all-time performances.