THE METHOD ACTORS – THIS IS STILL IT

— Dan on March 9, 2010 at 2:49 am

The Method Actors
This Is Still It

Purchase

The Method Actors were among the earliest bands to emerge from the same fertile Athens punk/new wave scene that gave the world The B-52s, R.E.M. and Pylon. Acute Record’s new CD This Is Still It–which R.E.M.’s Peter Buck describes in his liner notes as “a kind of secret history of the Athens scene”– revisits the essential early years of the trailblazing duo.

With just two members, Vic Varney on guitar and vocals, David Gamble on drums and vocals, the Method Actors were an experiment in just how much you could do with so little. Using repetitious grooves and stripped down instrumentation, killer rhythm guitar and thunderous drums, they underpinned surprisingly pop, hook-laden songwriting with an angsty racket of barely controlled chaos.

While it was the energy of the typical punk influences like the Pistols and Ramones that got them kick-started, unexpected influences like James Blood Ulmer and Capt Beefheart pushed their sounds to odd, aggressive structures, creating a sort of southern skronk by two guys who could actually sing. Following in the dance based approach of fellow Athenian B-52s, they soon incorporated the atmospherics of groups like Public Image Limited and Joy Division, the minimalism of the Young Marble Giants and the punk-funk of Gang of Four. Still, they never lost the ability to focus on the music’s key elements: incessant, stripped down, trance-inducing grooves and yelping vocal harmonies that vacillate between haunting melodies and excited spasms.

The early batch of singles that comprise the first half of This Is Still It were recorded in marathon sessions in a two-person guitar and drums format that in some ways would lay the groundwork for anyone from the White Stripes to No Age. By the time they recorded their critically acclaimed double LP, Little Figures, selections of which fill out This Is Still It, they were able to stretch out a bit, including adding the sounds of not just a bass guitar, but steel drums to the mix. All the while they never lost the ability to focus the music on it’s key elements of incessant stripped down trance-inducing grooves and yelping harmony vocals that vacillate between haunting melodies and excited outbursts.

These two aspects of their sound are represented well by the first two free downloads included below, but they only hint at the breadth of their output.

The Method Actors-Do the Method

[audio:http://www.acuterecords.com/sounds/ACU012/TheMethodActors_DoTheMethod.mp3]

control-click to download

The Method Actors-Bleeding

[audio:http://www.acuterecords.com/sounds/ACU012/TheMethodActors_Bleeding.mp3]

control-click to download

[expand title=TRACKLIST]

1. Do The Method
2. Can’t Act
3. Distortion
4. Privilege
5. Dancing Underneath
6. No Condition
7. She
8. You
9. E-Y-E
10. My Time
11. Rang-A-Tang
12. Bleeding
13. Notice
14. Ask Dana
15. 20×1
16. Commotion (Dance Mix)
17. Pigeons
18. Halloween
19. Hi-Hi-Whoopee
[/expand]

[expand title=ORIGINAL SLEEVES]


This is It 7″, Armageddon Records, 1980


Rhythms of You 10″ ep, Armageddon Records, 1981


Dancing Underneath 12″ ep, Armageddon Records, 1981


Round World 7″, Armageddon Records, 1981


Little Figures 2xLP, outer gatefold, Armageddon Records, 1981


Little Figures 2xLP inside photo, Armageddon Records, 1981[/expand]

[expand title=PHOTOS BY CURTIS KNAPP]

[/expand]

[expand title=ORIGINAL PRESS]

”Working with the most basic instrumentation imaginable, the Method Actors is able to make the combination musical…the guitar makes deft use of chords with moving inner voices and meshes beautifully with the drumming.” – Robert Palmer, New York Times

(Little Figures) is the best album of the year, fashioned from manic, maverick maneuvers and displays a pop sense that sets heads spinning. The Method Actors achieved an uncanny ability to imbue arbitrary squibs of noise and staggering meter with an alluring sense of shape.”
– Sounds

“…riveting psycho-Ramones drive heightened by choogling guitar and the pair’s vocals, one a droll sing-speak, the other a madhouse wail…”
– The New Trouser Press

“Far from being restricted by their lack of personnel, they flaunt the kind of freedom which gives full reign to their extremely angular, passionate approach. Devoid of derivatives, this week’s best single proves that far from the Big City Kultural quicksands, some of the most challenging music is conceived free of destructive influences for no other reason than the music itself.”
-On debut single “This Is It” being awarded Single of the Week, Roy Carr, New Musical Express, London

“The Music of psychedelic despair.”  – Tip, Berlin

“The most pretentious band sense creation.”
– University of Georgia’s Red and Black
[/expand]

[expand title=LINKS]

Vic Varney

Photographer Curtis Knapp

The Method Actors on Myspace[/expand]

5 Comments »

  1. Very cool.

    Comment by Bewlay — March 11, 2010 @ 5:01 pm
  2. […] tracks with which to conjure this review, grown-up power-critics who write proper journalism get the whole CD – but truthfully If I’m not buying it, then that’s one less person who’s […]

    Pingback by Cybore / The Method Actors: This Is Still It — March 16, 2010 @ 7:17 am
  3. […] BUY HERE This Is Still It [ Acute- 2010 ] Similar Artist: Joy Division, Wire, Devo, Gang of Four Rating: 1. Do The Method 2. Can’t Act 3. Distortion 4. Privilege 5. Dancing Underneath 6. No Condition 7. She 8. You 9. E-Y-E 10. My Time 11. Rang-A-Tang 12. Bleeding 13. Notice 14. Ask Dana 15. 20×1 16. Commotion 17. Pigeons 18. Halloween 19. Hi-Hi-Whoopee Condividi questo post AKPC_IDS += "10486,"; […]

  4. If any more genius post-punk I’d never heard of before gets reissued I’m going to need a bigger house, but this one is a really great addition to the collection. A really original sound these 2 guys had. They must have been something else live. Keep up the good work, Acute. You’ve got great ears!

    Comment by Alberto — June 24, 2010 @ 4:59 pm
  5. You can always just purchase the download to save space. Wait, did I say that? Thanks for the kind words…more to come!

    Comment by Dan — June 25, 2010 @ 10:54 am

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