The Method Actors emerged in 1979 as a post-punk and new wave outfit from Athens, Georgia, earning widespread critical praise after Vic Varney and David Gamble—both guitarist/vocalist and drummer/vocalist, respectively—departed the short-lived Tone-Tones to launch the project. Shortly after forming, the duo mounted an intensive series of performances across New York City, yet they secured their recording deal back home when Armageddon, the London-based imprint, dispatched Peter Dyer to the area originally to ink Pylon, the stylistically aligned group then under Varney’s management. Between 1980 and 1982 the band issued several well-regarded recordings: the three-song 7-inch This Is It, designated Single of the Week by New Musical Express in Britain; the Rhythms of You EP, which lost two tracks for its American edition Dancing Underneath on the Athens DB label; and the double album Little Figures, condensed to a single LP for domestic release. While supporting the album on the road, the lineup expanded to include guitarist Michael Richmond after Varney moved to bass, though Gamble exited before 1982 concluded. By the time the quartet delivered its last release, the 1983 album Luxury, Varney had already moved forward, forming Go Van Go—an act that remained intermittently active until 1987—before pursuing a solo career that yielded multiple albums. In 2010 the Acute label gathered much of the band’s early output on the compilation This Is Still It.
