Ignored             Obscured              Restored

Every great music scene has its creation myth. For Athens, Georgia — a sleepy Southern college town that improbably became one of America’s most creative hotbeds — it began in 1978 with the explosion of the B-52s.  Their gleefully eccentric mix of sci-fi kitsch and mutant dance rhythms caught fire locally, then nationally, signaling that something extraordinary was happening below the Mason-Dixon Line.

Grace Elizabeth Hale’s Cool Town traces that moment and the bohemian swirl that followed.  Part memoir, part cultural study, the book maps the intertwined worlds of art, poetry, and music that transformed Athens from a college town into a creative hub.  Hale was there herself, an active participant in the scene, and her perspective feels both intimate and sharply observed.  The prose is accessible, though laced with academic rigor — footnotes abound, giving it the air of a rock ’n’ roll dissertation that’s anything but dry.

Reading Cool Town sent me back to Athens, GA: Inside/Out, the 1986 documentary that captured the scene’s ragged charm (and whose soundtrack I still own).  Watching it again is like stepping into a faded Polaroid — full of eccentric artists, thrift-store fashions, and jangling guitars.

After the B-52s came Pylon, a band born from the University of Georgia’s art department. Guitarist Randall Bewley, bassist Michael Lachowski, drummer Curtis Crowe, and vocalist Vanessa Briscoe Hay fused post-punk angularity with a minimalist, rhythmic drive that made them instant cult heroes.

Their first single, “Cool” backed with “Dub,” was pure Athens energy — raw, danceable, and defiantly independent.  In fact, Village Voice critic Robert Christgau crowned it the “best independent single of the year” in 1980.

Another group of UGA students (Mark Cline, Mike Richmond, and Armistead Wellford) originally eschewed vocals altogether, crafting shimmering, melodic instrumentals that invited both introspection and movement.

Their tune “Spin Your Partner” remains a highlight of the Athens canon — sunny, hypnotic, and instantly recognizable to anyone who’s ever stumbled into a late-night art-school party.

What Cool Town captures so beautifully is the sense of possibility that hung in the air.  This was a scene without music industry oversight or commercial ambition, driven instead by play, experimentation, and friendship.  Before “indie” was a marketing term, it was a way of life — and Athens was its playground.

For anyone drawn to the jangly, offbeat spirit of early alternative rock — or the kind of art-meets-music cross-pollination that gave birth to so many American subcultures — Grace Elizabeth Hale’s Cool Town is essential reading.

Enjoy… until next week.