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Afoot is the debut six-song EP by the American indie rock band Let's Active, first released in 1983 by I.R.S. Records.

Afoot
EP by Let's Active
Released	1983
Recorded	June 1982 – March 1983
Genre	Indie rock, jangle pop, power pop
Length	22:42
Label	I.R.S. Records
Producer	Mitch Easter
Let's Active chronology
Afoot (1983) Cypress (1984)

Recording

The music on Afoot was recorded from June 1982 through March 1983.[1] Recording was done at bandleader Mitch Easter's home recording studio, Drive-In Studio in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.[2] The songs were presented as a demo to I.R.S., who quickly signed the band. The six songs were packaged as a mini album debut for the band and released in 12" vinyl EP format in late 1983.[1]

Track listing

All six songs were composed by Mitch Easter:[1]

1. "Every Word Means No" – 2:57
2. "Make Up with Me" – 3:40
3. "Edge of the World" – 4:00
4. "Room with a View" – 3:48
5. "In Between" – 3:55
6. "Leader of Men" – 4:22

Personnel

Let's Active:

• Mitch Easter – Guitar, vocals
• Faye Hunter – Bass, vocals
• Sara Romweber – Drums

Production

Easter produced all six tracks at Drive-In Studio.[2] Scott Litt provided assistance with mixing.[1]

Bassist Faye Hunter painted the cover art, musician/friend Richard Barone contributed additional photography, and the album design was credited to Carl Grasso.[1]

Reception

Although it sold only modestly, the EP was a prominent critical success.[3][4] Trouser Press described the record as giving "new meaning to such overused pop adjectives as crisp, bright and ringing".[5] In a particularly effusive retrospective review, AllMusic said "the entire EP is simply flawless" and called all six songs "brilliantly catchy".[6]

Afoot was a major hit on college radio stations in late 1983–early 84.[2] The opening track, "Every Word Means No", was particularly popular, and came to be regarded as a signature song for the group.[7] In the late 1990s it was covered by Smash Mouth and featured on the Friends Again soundtrack (1999).[8] It lent its name (partially) to the multi-band compilation Every Word: A Tribute to Let's Active (2003),[8] and continues to endure as "a mainstay of '80s pop retrospectives".[9]

Afoot was followed by the full-length album Cypress in 1984, and the two were combined in a single CD release in June 1989.[6] This CD included two extra tracks, "Two Yous" and "Grey Scale," which had been available previously only on the UK vinyl release of Cypress.[6]

References

External links

• Afoot at Discogs

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