![R.E.M. Fables of the Reconstruction [Promotional Poster] (1985)](http://img205.echo.cx/img205/6287/remreconpromo7gv.jpg)
![The dB's [Publicity Photo] (1981?)](http://img205.echo.cx/img205/3888/dbs1xj.jpg)
Jangle Pop was a mostly American post-punk movement of the mid-'80s that marked a return to the chiming guitars and pop melodies of the '60s.
Jangle Pop was a short-lived but very welcome genre of mid-80's rock; a roots-rock subgenre, it was a reinvention of the 60's folk rock sound crossed with 80's pop sensibilities, often with a punky, brisk tempo. R.E.M., early in their career, could be considered the standard-bearer of jangle-pop, which emphasized ringing guitars and vocal harmonies, although the genre did not begin with them. Some bands added a Beatles/British invasion style harmonic element to the music, others took cues from country/rock. Still others bordered on punk. R.E.M. had the widest mix of these influences giving them an extra dimension and depth many of the other bands lacked, which gave them a longetivity and ultimately the sales nearly every jangle-pop band lacked.
The only other jangle-pop band to enjoy large sales in America were the Bangles, from Los Angeles. While better known for their glossy hits like "Manic Monday", their first album and EP were organic, real jangle-pop efforts in a Byrds/Big Star vein, spiced with a dash of psychedelia on their debut.
Jangle Pop was not the most popular music of its day; R.E.M.'s albums of the time never charted better than the lower reaches of the top-30, the Bangles only hit big after they sanded off most of the edges, and many of the other groups of the time are already largely forgotten, their albums and (especially) EP's hard to find, the dB's, Pylon, Let's Active, The Plimsouls, and Guadalcanal Diary among them.
![Let's Active [Promotional Picture] (1983?)](http://img205.echo.cx/img205/6359/tletsactiveglossy4en.jpg)
![Guadalcanal Diary {Promottional Picture] (1984?)](http://img205.echo.cx/img205/1998/tguadalcanaldiaryglossy7oz.jpg)
Most of these bands often sounded very do-it-yourself in their approach, and their records had an appealing rawness to them that recalled some 60's garage bands. This was mostly due to the quality of the studios they worked in; many recorded for barely surviving indie labels, and had very limited budgets for recording. However, there was also an aesthetic at work. All of these bands could be considered "roots-rock"; they favored organic instrumentation as a conscious or coincidental reaction against the synth-based music that dominated the radio and MTV at the time. In the southeast, bands like R.E.M. and Let's Active had a southern, slightly country flavor to them, while the West Coast bands were more psychedelic; a sub-genre of jangle pop, known as paisley underground centered in Los Angeles. Heartland bands tended to lean towards cowpunk. The earliest ones had some wisps of punky residue; by the mid-80's a gentler, less angular sound was in favor.
.jpg?t=20120527181101)
Article comments
1 - godoggo
First of all, uao is the the one blogcritic whom I always want to read, even when the subject of a particular post isn't something I'm normally interested in.
Anyways, I should think that some of the Meat Puppets stuff could be grouped in this category. Any how about Translator? Remember them?
2 - Randy P/Tube
Fabulous post, UAO. You just reviewed some of my 1984-85 record collection and the music I was listening to at that time. Also, godoggo, I remember Translator back in the day but I vaguely remember the titles of their songs/albums. We could not find their albums here. But I remember them grouped in this scene. Great article from a time when the music underground was thriving
3 - Vern Halen
Translator - what I remember about them is their two albums that had predominantly black covers were good and the two albums that were multicolored were not. Standing in Line was my fave song (off of one of the black albums, natch).
uao, I echo Randy. We ought to do a comparison of our collections - or just publish the same list 2 or 3 times.
4 - uao
Thanks much guys, I appreciate the thoughts. I'm willing to guess we're all somewhere within the ballpark of the same age.
Meat Puppets would qualify, I think. Not sure about Translator: I always thought of them as power pop or new wave, but really I only know that one hit of theirs, "Everywhere That I'm Not", which was a favorite.
5 - Ace Athena
For info about jangle rock artists playing Rickenbackers, see RickRedux.com