Love Tractor

Along with luminaries like R.E.M., the B-52's, and Pylon, Love Tractor helped establish the college town of Athens, Georgia, as a mecca of alternative music in the early '80s. Mixing jangly guitars, exploratory melodies, and propulsive rhythms, they made music that showed it was possible for a band to be smart, arty, and ambitious while generating a groove that would keep the party swinging all night. Though Love Tractor started out as an instrumental combo (as captured on their self-titled 1982 debut), in time they learned to write lyrics as clever and engaging as their tunes, and 1987's This Ain't No Outer Space Ship and 1989's Themes from Venus were tighter and more accomplished but no less fun. A single in 2020 confirmed the band was back in business, with new music as well as reissues of 1982's Love Tractor and 1983's Around the Bend.