Album of the Day-April 28
Guadacanal Diary — 2x4
Guadacanal Diary — 2x4
28.April.2020
Guadalcanal Diary
2x4
1987
Who can say why one band “makes it” and why another doesn’t.
It is, and always will be, a mystery.
After the groundswell of bands like R.E.M. in the early 80s brought A&R reps from every label down to Georgia, Electra Records signed Atlanta jangle-rock band Guadalcanal Diary.
The band achieved a fair amount of attention and anticipation was high for the band’s third album, 2x4.
In 1987, Georgia bands like The B-52’s and Pylon were riding high, but none as high as R.E.M. The general logic was that because Guadalcanal Diary’s 2x4 shared a producer in 1980’s jangle-pop architect, Don Dixon, then the consensus was that they would be the “next R.E.M.” — suffice it to say, the stakes were high.
Unfortunately, in 1987, 2x4 didn’t find success too far outside of college rock radio and it failed to burn up the charts. But the perk to recorded music, at least good music, is that what may not reach people in one generation, it can reach others in another.
And such was the case with 2x4 when, in 2015, Paste Magazine referred to 2x4 as a “masterpiece” logged it at #64 on their list of “The Top 80 Albums of the 1980s.”
This is a consistent album, with a consistent sound that’s consistently good and the record stays true to the college rock and jangle-rock ethos of the time. And it’s a sound that comes in and out of fashion, so I suspect the resonance of 2x4 will continue for a long time.
Guadalcanal Diary delivered one more album to Electra Records in 1989 (Flip-Flop) that got a little more recognition from MTV but still went nowhere. The band would reunite occasionally over the years and I can’t find any formal declaration of a break-up…just members doing other things.
The fact that Guadalcanal Diary didn’t reach the mainstream is one of those record industry head-scratchers. The ingredients were present but…
Fortunately, we have recorded evidence of just how good the band was AND just how good 2x4 is.