Rock and roll is at its best when you get home from a show and you are just inspired to recreate everything in your life. Anyone who has ever experienced that feeling of not wanting to sleep for fear you might miss something knows what I mean. Let's begin...

(Don't) Throw That Beat In The Garbage can: Drummers are funny people. On the one hand, they have a reputation for being flaky miscreants. On the other hand, every drummer in Athens is in approximately five different bands, thereby nullifying the first accusation. Actually, I think drummers have a hand up over all those folks who insist on being a front person in a band. Face it, front-people, you need them more than they need you. Also, there are hundreds of you guys in Athens while a drummer is as hard to find as a virgin in Vegas. At any rate, one of Athens' most exciting recent bands has found itself in the position of - yes - needing a new drummer. Tracer Matula has in a short time written some impressive, angular, New Wave tunes not at all unlike very early U2 with some Echo And The Bunnymen and Gang Of Four thrown in for good measure. Others have accused the band of fielding influence from The Cure, Weezer and Built To Spill. I'm not even sure if the bandmembers are even fans of that stuff. It just sounded that way to me. The point is that they're good. At any rate, if you're a drummer who digs this stuff and you're looking to pound the skins with a new group of guys (oooh... nope, that's too good to change) then please see www.geocities.com/blakery_2000/tracermatula or contact the band at iknowstuff2@juno.com.

Swimming With Sharks: Local house-party heroes Coulier and We Versus The Shark have returned from their first tour; by all accounts things were pretty good on the road.

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The 10-day tour of the East Coast took the bands as far north as Brooklyn, NY and although Northern audiences tend to be a bit more standoffish than us gracious Southerners, early reports indicate that both bands went over with new crowds very well. And I can't imagine why they wouldn't. The bands have been working their asses off and both are also just more than one year old each. Coulier's mid-1990s hardcore is both refreshing and comforting in these days of post-everything. The band's debut 7" Call & Response has been re-pressed by Atlanta's Stickfigure Records, who will also release Coulier's debut full-length once it's recorded late this summer. Of course, we're all still waiting on the debut album by We Versus The Shark which will appear in the fall on the band's own Hello Sir Records. In related news, all three members of Coulier and some heretofore unnamed conspirators will be playing in the one-time-only eight-piece supergroup Jambulance at Last Call on Monday, June 7. I shudder to think of the set list being prepared for this one. For more information, MP3s and a bunch of other stuff, check out www.coulier.net and www.wevstheshark.com.

If Voting Changed Anything It Would be Illegal: But since we're not exactly passing laws around here, I want to encourage each of you to vote in the 2004 Flagpole Athens Music Awards. This is the time of year where you can have a say in which bands get to drag their scruffy duffs up on stage at the Morton Theatre, receive a large and sort-of-heavy statue and say "thank you" to all their devoted fans (which could number in the thousands or low teens). The point is this: All the award winners are picked by you. The awards show is on Thursday, June 17, at the aforementioned Morton Theatre and hopefully all your smiling faces will be in attendance. You don't have to vote in each category to have your ballot counted, but you cannot pull some crap like voting for the same band in each category. Also, obvious attempts at ballot stuffing will cause those ballots to be voided. So, look for the paper ballot in this week's issue or head over to www.flagpole.com and vote. Get used to me saying this as I'm going to remind you until voting closes on June 2.

The Story Isn't Finished Yet: Once upon a time it was near impossible to find comprehensive histories of bands such as U2 or our own home-grown R.E.M. Nowadays,

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however, not only can one troll the information superhighway and find a whole world of info but there are any number of books about each of them. And they keep coming. The latest tome on R.E.M. is courtesy of British writer Johnny Black who, in addition to contributing to Mojo, Q and Blender magazines, has previously written biographies of both Jimi Hendrix and The Who. Black has based his project on 20+ years of interviews with the band and compatriots. Reveal: The Story of R.E.M. was released back in April by the British publishing house Backbeat Books. The reason I mention this now is because Black's books on Hendrix and The Who are constantly out of stock everywhere and there's no reason to believe that the demand for Reveal will be any different, so you might want to go on and get your hands on a copy. Drop by www.backbeatuk.com or www.remhq.com for more info.

In other R.E.M. News: California label Vagrant Records just released a limited edition CD/ DVD of the acoustic-babysitter Dashboard Confessional which features singer/one-man-band Chris Carrabba covering multiple songs from R.E.M.'s beautiful Automatic for the People. While I'm generally up for anyone covering anything, and I applaud Carrabba's admiration of the album, the idea of his talentless and tattooed carcass running ham-fisted over these tracks makes me want to scream. For more information please see www.vagrant.com.

And that's it, baby! As always, get your news in early and often and be sure to always reference either me or Threats & Promises in the subject line of all emails. Contact the Suede-Denim Secret Police via email at music@flagpole.com, voicemail at 549-2360; or by post at P.O. Box 1027, Athens, GA 30603.

Gordon Lamb