Pylon headlines WNYU 35th Anniversary Celebration's at the Knitting Factory this Monday, December 15. Tickets are available here.

Left to right: Michael Lachowski, Curtis Crowe, Vanessa Hay, Randy Bewley
photo courtesy of Pylon

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Pylon, "Cool" (MP3)

In the beginning there were the B-52's, Pylon and R.E.M. (in that order). And soon after Athens, Georgia, a once proverbially sleepy college town where bars closed at midnight, momentarily became the home of more bands per capita than any place in America.

All four Pylon members--drummer Curtis Crowe, lead singer Vanessa Briscoe (now Briscoe Hay), bassist Michael Lachowski and guitarist Randy Bewley--still live there, playing in their third incarnation (seemingly final breakups in 1983 and 2001 didn't quite take) of one of indie-rock's most important collectives.

Before just their sixth and final show of 2008, a headlining slot at Monday's celebration of WNYU's 35th anniversary at the Knitting Factory, we settled into a long winter's history lesson with co-founders Lachowski and Bewley via video iChat, the band's very first interview with the new technology (as well as ours), which began with Lachowski creating a backdrop of clouds, and then polka dots, for our viewing pleasure. --Rob Trucks

Do I need to come up with a backdrop too? Is my kitchen too busy and distracting?

Randy: Damn! That's a kitchen?

[laughter all around]

Yeah. Randy, I thought you didn't do interviews.

Randy: [laughs] Me? I'm just real quiet. I'm giving it a go.

I definitely read that you didn't do interviews.

Randy: Oh yeah, yeah. Hey, you know, what can you say about bands breaking up and then getting back together?

So you do do interviews.

Randy: I do.

Well, I no longer feel special then.

[both laugh]

Randy: I haven't talked to anybody in a really long time.

Well, I'll pretend that counts for something. But I do want to touch on the breakup thing. Pylon has accomplished a lot over the years, but you don't seem very good at breaking up. You keep on getting back together.

[both laugh]

Michael: We don't do it very well.

Let's do a quick history. The two of you were roommates, and the original goal was to form a band, go to New York, play one show, get written up in New York Rocker, come back to Athens and break up.

Randy: Word. That's exactly what we wanted.