CD Review: R.E.M.'s Accelerate

R.E.M. have awoken from too long in a state of static dirgey-ness and delivered the punchy, playful Accelerate, proving that there’s no band who wouldn’t benefit from a little rock ‘n’ roll attitude. True to it’s name, this record is fast paced and relentless. Speed is the point here and R.E.M. are up to the challenge, despite being, gawd, nearly 30 years old.

Opening with the breathless Byrds meets Buzzcocks tune “Living Well is the Best Revenge”, the band manages to evoke both their jangly birth and their Monkee-esque “Shiny Happy People” era. Singer Michael Stipe and bassist Mike Mills harmonize effortlessly over Peter Buck’s guitars, hitting that sweet spot that’s been missing since Bill Berry’s departure in 1997. The next two songs are just as great, especially “Man-Sized Wreath”, where Stipes encourages everyone to dance “like they just don’t care” over chugging, dirty rock beats as hard as anything R.E.M. has ever done.

In their heart of hearts, R.E.M. have always been a great pop band in the mold of all great pop bands (i.e. the Beatles) and thus have always sounded their best when creating upbeat, 2 minute opuses. Accelerate is full of these types of songs, offering the perfect balance between candy pop goofiness and garage rock casualness. Really, all that’s missing is handclaps and the “la la la’s” and this could be a Fuzztones record.

Unfortunately, Accelerate does slow down a bit in the middle with the abovementioned dirge-like material. After the upbeat opening numbers, slow country elegies aren’t exactly what the ear is ready for. “Until the Day is Done” is rather expansive and halts the record in its tracks. “Mr. Richards” and “Houston” are both entirely skip-able, if you want to keep the energy high, high, high(and rockers always do). Happily by the end of Accelerate, R.E.M. have brought the tempo back up and are ready to dance again. On closing number “I’m Gonna Be A DJ”, Stipe sings “Death is pretty final, I’m collecting vinyl”. Can I get a “Hell Yes!” for the old dudes?


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