The last decade hasn’t been easy for us R.E.M. fans. The sting of watching what was once the coolest band in the world (those of us on the long end of 25 remember this distinction) release two overly slick, largely patchy efforts and fade into the kind of band that only elicits a glazed look from your fresh out of college co-workers has been a real drag. I haven’t always been sure that the band carrying on after Bill Berry retired to farm life was such a great idea, despite giving us UP, a brave and soulful experiment in chamber-electro sounds. All signs however point to a resurgence with Accelerate, which to this listener sounds like a band re-learning it’s strengths and even forging ahead with a rarely seen belligerence and force. I’m not sure which part of the new single “Supernatural Superserious” makes me feel that curious mix of pleasant nostalgia and tentative excitement for the future more: Is it Mike Mill’s amazing vocals FINALLY finding a prominent place in the mix? The slight bit of jangle in Peter Buck’s guitar? The fact that once again I have to struggle to lift the opaque from Stipe’s words? I imagine it’s all of those things but even more importantly is that the sum of these parts reveals that R.E.M. actually sounds like a band again. This isn’t the finest song on the new record but it is a telling first salvo. Check out the guys playing for the newly yuppified LES here:
“Supernatural Superserious” video - www.warnerknask.no/rem
