Album Review: Peter Buck by Peter Buck

Peter Buck is the first ex-member of R.E.M. to take the solo plunge, and the guitarist has totally done it his way: cutting the whole thing in five days, on analog tape, with his friends, including R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills, R.E.M. associates Scott McCaughey and Bill Rieflin, and members of the Decemberists and Sleater-Kinney.

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It's not a huge surprise that Peter Buck is the first member of R.E.M. to release a solo album after their 2011 breakup. Even at the band's peak the guitarist seemed restless, dedicating his downtime to playing, producing, and jamming, appearing on more side projects and singer/songwriter albums than can be counted. With that same sense of urgency he cut his solo debut, hammering it out quickly with such familiar friends as guitarist Scott McCaughey and drummer Bill Rieflin, keeping the door open for such famous friends as Lenny Kaye, Corin Tucker, and Mike Mills, whose presence indicates there is little ill will between the old bandmates.

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Not quite a year after R.E.M. split, guitarist Peter Buck, a great sideman who had intimated that he'd never become a frontman, is unexpectedly first out of the gate with a self-titled solo debut. It's a curious thing: a vinyl-only release on Portland's Mississippi Records, which specializes in old blues and folk reissues. Limited to 2,000 copies, the album is sold exclusively through independent record stores and online retailers, although there are rumors of a digital release sometime in the future.

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