My completionism wrestled with my narrative/organisation side when it came to doing Dead Letter Office for this R.E.M. series. With these articles coming out every weekday (you know, when I get them on time), the fifteen albums that make up the R.E.M. studio discography makes for three five-part arcs: The I.R.S Years, The Commercial Peak Years and the Post-Berry Years. I mean, I had a plan all worked out, and this collection just messes it all up, dammit!
Still, it is still worth doing this collection, not just to correct a mistake I made in preparing this series, but to cover this period of the band to its fullest extent. And to be fair, the B-Side collection is a ground for many artists – from The Beatles to The Smiths – to steak their claim as great and consistent songwriters, or even demonstrate their sense of experimentation. R.E.M. admittedly doesn’t do too much to heighten the B-side artform which until the last disc is, for the most part, a collection of cover songs and band outtakes. But its glibness is an inherent part of the album’s attitude. So much so that Pete Buck wrote with each song on the collection a series of self-deprecating linear notes that also serve to give context of the band’s creation. As a result Dead Letter Office is an essential listen in how the notorious Capital A art rock act were in actuality very comfortable as a laid-back party act, and just how good an act R.E.M. even when the stuff didn’t make it to the albums.
I don’t know how much of a narrative I can create in this article, so for now I will go to the trusty bullet points as we go through each song.
- “Crazy”
Except for the relatively simplicity of the lyrics, I was actually shocked to discover that this was not an original R.E.M. composition. It is from a band called Pylon, who like Clique I won’t pretend to have known, and beside the fact that the instrumentation is a little tighter the biggest difference this and the original is that the lead singer is not a clearer sounding woman. It is worth remembering for each of these covers that, in a pre-internet age, this
This would even be true for…
- “There She Goes Again”
Of the three Velvet Underground covers that are in this collection, this is the one that makes the most changes to the original. First is the acoustic arrangement of the track, and the solo being an octave higher. Lyrically it takes away some verses and removes lines like the bird in her cage analogy. As a result, it takes away from just how aggressive the original is, which if you recall is about hitting a prostitute. But as we have said before, R.E.M. like their contradictions.
- “Burning of You”
The first original song of Dead Letter Office, this is actually one of the band’s earliest compositions. As a result it has what we’ll call a punkier aesthetic with hard hitting chords, though still maintaining that beautiful Mills bass line. The biggest thing to take from Stipes lyrics though is just how many symbols here would extend into ideas on their next three albums: boats, rivers mixing with radios and images of Southern history.
- “Voice of Harold”
There is a British comedian called Jasper Carrot who proved just how funny he was when he simply read out some Australian insurance claims. Here Stipe proves how just how captivating he is as a presence by simply reading out another album’s linear notes (with a very southern accent) over the music to “Seven Chinese Brothers”,
- “Burning Hell”
This crunchy, garage rock exploration into the underworld is heightened to the point of caricature, including the way that Stipes enunciates the chorus (which sometimes blows out so much that he sounds like Mark E Smith). Still an enjoyable song, and even here Stipe explores his predilections with gender obscurity.
- “White Tornado”
An instrumental track that introduces itself like a post-punk track before revealing itself to be a mighty great surf rock pastiche (Once called “Generic Surf” if you didn’t get it). Of particular note here are Berry’s frenetic drums and Peter Buck just being given chance to shred. This would be used a lot for the band’s sound checks, but I honestly wish they would have expanded this into a full song with lyrics; there’s ideas here that I don’t think are fully explored.
- “Toys in the Attic”
You wouldn’t instantly make a connection to Aerosmith and R.E.M., and to be fair I think they mostly chose this song as a lark. But still, this is a hell of fun! The guitar licks are great, it goes along at a breakneck pace, but perhaps the biggest standout to me is just how much Mills’ vocals stand out compared to Stipes, even though they are singing at the same time.
- “Windout”
Of all the genre pastiches on this album – another garage rocker here – I think this one is the weakest. It was originally for the Tom Hank’s sex comedy Bachelor Party, and having never seen the movie I think I can still confidently say this one would have fit. Side note: When I first wrote this passage I kept calling it “Whiteout”. As I said, it certainly would befit a party with that incident occurring.
- “Ages of You”
“This is kind of a companion piece to Burning Down. When we got tired of that song, we kept the two pieces that we like and rewrote the rest to come up with Ages Of You. We got tired of that one also.” A flippant review from Buck’s linear notes, but not one that lacks a tiny bit of merit. This is essentially R.E.M. early on coming closer to their signature sound. Also the signature Stipe mumbles; in some cases he was literally saying nothing here. A good song, but one you wouldn’t be shocked was on a debut EP.
- “Pale Blue Eyes”
It’s “Pale Blue Eyes”, one of the greatest rock ballads ever written. It would pretty hard for anybody to fuck this one up. And they decide not to by being incredibly faithful to the original, although the Mills’ bass and backing vocals are a particularly nice addition.
- “Rotary Ten”
Of all the genre pastiches, this is definitely the one that intrigued me the most, because it is R.E.M. doing jazz. Depending on who you ask it is a song for an unreleased noir movie, or for a movie that never existed (hey, that other famous 80’s band did that). Either waits an instrument that unlike “White Tornado” could have gone much further, but it is still an incredibly fun artefact nonetheless.
- “Bandwagon”
R.E.M. getting in touch with the country side of their ouvre for the final of the pastiches. Stipe emphasises the Southernisms in his voice, Berry’s drums roll and chug along like the title vehicle. This was originally written for Fables of the Reconstruction, and there is no universe where I can imagine something this bright and slight getting on that album.
- “Femme Fatale”
The last Velvet Underground cover, and again one whose arrangements are pretty close to the original. But with clearer vocals on here, it does exemplify here how much more sweet and melodic Stipe’s singing is compared to even Nico’s singing (and especially Lou Reed).
- “Walter’s Theme”/ “King of the Road”
These two songs that make the finale of Dead Letter Office are almost inseparable from the story of their recording. Basically, the band came into the studio shitfaced and decided to record a couple of tracks. The first is an instrument(ish) track that is only like this because Stipe seems to have completely forgotten what he is saying, and yodels in the background like a sheriff of the castrate. They then follow this with a cover of Roger Miller’s “King of the Road”, which they first do by completely fucking it up and having to over again, and then when they do start again Stipe sings the wrong lyrics, the rest of the band are hitting air, and everyone is talking to each other in some attempt to keep the band on key.
And there we have the end to Dead Letter Office, which is as slight as inconsequential as the band want it to be. With this the band showed off their funny side more than any oth-sorry what is that?…Oh, yeah, that’s right!
With all copies of Dead Letter Office now comes a final disc that contains Chronic Town, the bands first official EP. In terms of public perception this is not the best move, as it makes it appear like a lesser work in conjunction with the collection. It is very much like U2 releasing the Deluxe Edition of Achtung Baby with all of Zooropa [EDIT: Was going to write this before Dan Abnormal, I promise]. And like Zooropa it does a disservice to the work. Because Chronic Town as a debut EP is one of the best and most famous examples of its kind, a band coming straight out of the gate with a sound and song craft of profession quality. As a collection it also explores the band’s obsession with world building, made clear by both the Chronic Town title and the inhabitants that they create in it.
Still, while I have picked a style, might as well stick to it…
- “Wolves, Lower”
Even at such an early period, this might be one of R.E.M’s best songs. The jangling arpeggios by Buck, Berry’s tight drums and Mills’ melodic bass line are all what we think of when we think of that great R.E.M sound. Meanwhile Stipe conveys a paranoia that he wouldn’t until Fables of the Reconstruction, with him howling as much in the same way as the title animal, but by the backing vocals come in at the chorus that paranoia turns into a kind of courage.
- “Gardening At Night”
This song has the kind of lush sound and experimentation with strings that we would eventually come to see on Reckoning. This is another way of saying this song sounds absolutely gorgeous, with guitars set to sound like the psychedelic sitars of later Beatles records. From what we can gather, continuing with the theme of paranoia, the lyrics suggest a suspicion of the light and of the actions of others around the garden. But, importantly, here Stipe shows off his lo-fi vocals (aka “what is he saying?”), focusing more on melody and mood than individual words. It grows around the track like a weed. Like a kudzu weed, if you will.
- “Carnival of Sorts (Box of Cars)”
Beginning with the ethereal carnival sounds that make up the first half of this title, “Carnival of Sorts” moves on to the quintessential R.E.M sound. As with the famous “democratic” method no one instrument stands out here except a strange percussion in the sparser verses by Berry. Stipe meanwhile shows more of his disgust with the city, and like he began this side with howls, he ends on a scream.
- “1000000”
This song is built upon an awesome, post punk guitar riff and erratic drums from Berry in the verses. Claiming to be “secluded in a marker stone” (maybe the stone figure that makes up the cover of this album?), the paranoia of the record has seem to have risen to levels of seeking isolation. That or the ghostly perspective of Stipes voice has taken a more literal perspective.
- “Stumble”
The length of the song is probably to0 long to maintain consistently, but otherwise this has seem more great drumming from Berry (who really is the standout here), and a strange experimental bridge that really shows the influence that Velvet Underground had on the band (maybe they should cover them?) In a college rock context, it is likely these people are falling due to being as sloshed as R.E.M. members at a recording session, but as part of the larger feeling of the record, it falling in the garden and the “ball and chain” cries are yet another sign of entrapment. This album conveys the feeling that a fan of Stipe put well: “just because you’re paranoid, don’t mean they’re not after you”.
So with the inclusion of Chronic Town, the Dead Letter Office ends with a note of bigger artistic aspirations that the band that previously ended the record didn’t (though both versions ended with the possibility that someone was drunk). As an artefact this is not as essential as other records from the I.R.S., but it articulates perfectly the dual aspirations of a band who were up for partying and were up for creating a mood.
We’ve done with the letters. On to the documents…
What did you think, though?
R.E.M Album Rankings
- Lifes Rich Pageant
- Murmur
- Reckoning
- Fables of the Reconstruction
- Dead Letter Office/Chronic Town