Omnivore Recordings

For all the perceived excursions in high gloss studio polish committed by some of the biggest heroes on rock radio at the time, it helped to make the potency of the college rock movement happening in a parallel universe at the time all the richer for both young fans and older folks who’ve grown disillusioned by the way acts like George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and The Rolling Stones were cutting records.

And when it came to producers, there wasn’t a board chairman whose distinct style was more indicative of the era as then-Let’s Active frontman Mitch Easter, the man behind such masterpieces of the period as the dB’s Stands for Decibels, Pylon’s Chomp and R.E.M.‘s Murmur. If anyone is to really blame for the infiltration of Byrdsy jangle into the waters of the Athens, GA, rock scene, its Mr. Easter.

However, for the true scholars of the American underground, its his work on the storied second division guitar pop group Game Theory which firmly establishes Easter’s legacy as one of the truly great studio craftsmen of the last 35 years. Originally recorded in 1985 and released on Enigma Records, Real Nighttime was a marked step forward from the home recordings that comprised the band’s 1982 debut Blaze of Glory. Under Easter’s watchful eye, the songs Game Theory’s leader, the late Scott Miller, were treated to a production job that truly punched up the melody and romance which helped the singer-songwriter gain comparisons to both Brian Wilson and Alex Chilton, who is paid due homage on Real Nighttime in the form of a moody cover of “You Can’t Have Me” from Big Star’s Third LP. Songs like “If and When It Falls Apart” and “Rayon Drive”, meanwhile, are beautifully contrasting examples of the seamlessness by which Miller, bassist Fred Juhos, drummer Dave Gill and keyboardist Nan Becker were able to go from quiet to crunchy with the rarest sense of ease.

With Easter at the controls, Real Nighttime successfully placed Game Theory right in direct competition with some of the hottest acts left of the dial at the time like The Rain Parade, Guadalcanal Diary and Green On Red. And in honor of its 30th anniversary, this most overlooked classic from the Reagan age is expanded expotentially to include a healthy helping of era-appropriate live tracks and a killer cover of Queen’s “Lily of the Valley” from 1974’s Sheer Heart Attack, as well an essay expertly written by underground music press icon Byron Coley in the liner notes, which also features an exclusive interview with Mitch Easter as well.

Omnivore Recordings knocks it out of the park once again by bringing light back onto this most essential college radio treasure of the 1980s.