Finest Worksongs: Athens Bands Play the Music of R.E.M.

reviewed by dave heaton

Tribute albums are always an up-and-down proposition. But Finest Worksongs is more of a party in celebration of R.E.M., recorded for posterity, than a properly planned-out tribute album, so you have to cut it some slack. These are highlights from a benefit concert that also served as hometown recognition of R.E.M.’s songwriting gifts…though the opening track, Liz Durrett’s typical (meaning slow-burning and gorgeous) cover of “The One I Love”, came from a different night. The rest of the recording comes from September 12, 2006, and as such features a bunch of tracks by the same musicians. That’s good news if you’re into what the musician is doing, bad news if you’re not. And mostly I’m not.

Bain Mattox rolls through three extremely faithful, and therefore kind of dull, songs. On their three songs The Observatory – with Bill Doss and Will Hart of the Olivia Tremor Control among its 14 musicians – at least tries for a spacey, eclectic pop orchestra take on R.E.M. Extremely sloppy in that it’d-be-better-to-have-been-there-and-been-drunk way, but sometimes kind of fun, at least. Drive-By Truckers fans will no doubt love Patterson Hood’s messy-blues takes on five classic R.E.M. songs, but I’m not quite there. I do enjoy the balls it takes to do “Belong”, one hell of a song but not the first likely candidate for a sing-along R.E.M. party.

By the time Five Eight’s songs come on, and especially by the time everyone (including all three members of R.E.M.) joins them for a night-closing, raucous roll through “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I’m Feel Fine)”, the sound’s getting fuzzier and I’m feeling more and more like I’m listening to a fun party from too far away. Not experiencing it, but hearing someone else’s memories of what a grand time was had by all.

{wwww.ironhorserecords.com}