Afoot (EP)
LET'S ACTIVE
I.R.S.
It was the height of jangle rock, a bright, ringing sound that recalled the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield sonics of the 1960s as filtered through a post-punk awareness. Combine that with quirky but catchy tunes, decidedly unslick but multi-layered production and Southern sensibilities, and you have Mitch Easter. The North Carolina singer-songwriter-guitarist-producer may be most famous for helming R.E.M.'s first single and first two albums, but his own project, Let's Active, is a fun rewind: The naïve optimism of "Room With a View" and the imminent break-up in "Every Word Means No." Afoot recalls a time when the 1980s held musical promise, before intelligent pop lost out to the likes of A Flock of Seagulls and Culture Club.
This article appears in Aug 16-22, 2006.