R.E.M. - Chronic Town

Before they were stadium-filling alternative rock icons, R.E.M. were four college kids in Athens, Georgia, reinventing the sound of the American underground. Their 1982 debut EP, Chronic Town, is a brilliantly murky, jangling masterpiece that set the blueprint for college radio. From the instantly recognizable arpeggios of Peter Buck’s Rickenbacker to Michael Stipe’s mesmerizing, nearly indecipherable murmurs, these five tracks pulse with a nervous, mysterious energy. The vinyl grooves practically radiate the humid, southern gothic atmosphere of their early years. Unpolished, enigmatic, and utterly captivating, this is where alternative rock’s most important chapter began.