Athens, Ga.: Inside/Out — a 1987 documentary — introduced the world to a music scene surrounding R.E.M. and The B-52s, most surely, but more importantly gave insight to the excitable, eccentric and earnest characters of the Southern college town. One character, poet John Seawright, wrote the words to Love Tractor's "I Broke My Saw." When originally released on 1988's Themes From Venus, it was after the instrumental rock band decided to add vocals to its jangly, surf-y New Wave sound. Seawright's melodic drawl — deeper than a shade of over-steeped tea — and similar sense of language was a perfect fit for the languid, yet catchy, Love Tractor. Mitch Easter's (Let's Active) extended mix, too long for the album's first vinyl pressing, has been uncovered for a reissue, adding a middle section that plays up Love Tractor's affection for doe-eyed '50s rock and roll.
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