Vanessa Briscoe Hay (Pylon)

Pylon lead singer Vanessa Briscoe Hay never thought she’d still be talking about—and singing the songs of—this brilliant, groundbreaking Athens, Ga., band more than 40 years after it began recording. Appearing on the scene between the B-52’s and R.E.M., Pylon was conceived as a sort of art project by University of Georgia students who took inspiration from the textile factory where three of them worked. Briscoe Hay, whom Paste magazine named one of the “25 Best Frontwomen of All Time," says the band was a machine, and her job was to fit into the spaces. Although Pylon disbanded (for the first time) after just two albums, Gyrate and Chomp, its taut, propulsive music sounds as potent as when it was recorded. Briscoe Hay turns up the volume on this unique, timeless band's story.