Question: The Jody Grind was a band whose first album was rated well by which rock band from Athens, Georgia?

Context articles: The Explorers Club (band)
The Survivors (Australian band)
Diamond Nights
David Barbe
The United States of America (band)
The Jody Grind (band)
Alter Ego (Peruvian band)
List of cover versions of Led Zeppelin songs
The Mendoza Line (band)
R.E.M.

The Explorers Club are a Pop rock band originally from the coast of South Carolina.
 They are a 5-man band whose debut album was released by Dead Oceans.
 The music of their first album is heavily influenced by the vocal harmony styles and production of The Beach Boys.
 They are also influenced by classic rock and roll arrangements as made popular by The Beatles, Chuck Berry, Phil Spector, The Zombies, The Monkees and The Byrds.
 Their second album shows more influences of soft-pop artists of the early-1970s such as Burt Bacharach, Glen Campbell, etc.
 The band relocated to Nashville, TN in 2014 and released their third studio album Together on June 24, 2016
The Survivors were a Brisbane punk rock band that originally formed in 1976 as Rat Salad, a party band, The Survivors attained cult status in Australia by their acknowledged popular live performances and contribution to the "Lethal Weapons" punk compilation album.
 Original band members were Greg Williamson on guitar and vocals, Jim Dickson on bass guitar and vocals, Bruce Anthon on drums and vocals.
 David Nichols, from the "Mess And Noise" website, commented that, "The Survivors were legends in their home town of Brisbane, a highly popular and adept band whose sets were mainly cool ’60s covers."
Diamond Nights is a hard rock/indie rock band whose influences include Thin Lizzy, Queen, and Cheap Trick.
 They formed in New York City in 2003, and released their debut album Popsicle in 2005.
 The band's song "The Girl's Attractive" was featured in a 2006 Jaguar advertisement, as well as the episode entitled "Thirst" from The CW's Smallville and in an Austrian beer (Stiegl) commercial.
David Barbe (September 30, 1963) is an American musician and producer/engineer from Athens, Georgia and director of the Music Business Certificate Program at the University of Georgia.
 He is chief of Chase Park Transduction studio in Athens.
 Barbe is known for his work as a songwriter, singer, guitarist, and bass guitarist in Sugar, Mercyland, and Buzz Hungry, as well as solo performances.
 Also, he has produced nearly every album by the popular country rock band Drive-By Truckers, and has worked as producer and engineer with Son Volt.
 He has an all-star solo band in Athens called the Quick Hooks.
The United States of America was an American experimental rock band whose works, recorded in late 1967, are an early example of the use of electronic devices in rock music.
 The short-lived band was founded in Los Angeles by experimental composer Joseph Byrd and singer and lyricist Dorothy Moskowitz, with musicians Gordon Marron, Rand Forbes and Craig Woodson, but split up shortly after the release of their only album in 1968.
 Their sound blended a range of musical genres, including avant-garde, psychedelic, and art rock, with many of the songs' lyrics reflecting Byrd's leftist political views.
 Unusually, the band had no guitar player; instead, they used strings, keyboards and electronics, including primitive synthesizers, and various audio processors, including the ring modulator.
 According to critic Kevin Holm-Hudson, "what distinguishes the United States of America from some of its contemporaries... is the seriousness and skill with which they incorporated avant-garde and other influences into their music."
The Jody Grind was a band from the Cabbagetown neighborhood of Atlanta featuring Kelly Hogan (vocals), Bill Taft (guitar), Walter Brewer (drums) and Robert Hayes (bass).
 The band's debut album, "One Man's Trash (Is Another Man's Treasure)", met with some local success and was positively reviewed by Michael Stipe of R.E.M. on his blog.
 Shortly after the 1992 release of their second album, "Lefty's Deceiver", Hayes and new drummer Rob Clayton, along with Atlanta performance artist and poet Deacon Lunchbox, were killed in a car accident.
 The three were riding in a rented cargo van in Montgomery, Alabama, at the time of the accident, when a drunk driver crossed the I-65 median and struck them head-on.
Alter Ego is the original Peruvian neo-progressive rock band whose style goes from the ever-changing art rock from the 1990s mixed with new sounds from the 1970s.
 Their style crosses between symphonic rock, hard rock to power ballads and R&B.
 The band was founded in 1992 by pianist/composer and lead singer Juan Carlos Oganes in Perú (South America), who assembled five other musicians and developed a sound that was rare for the time in that part of the world.
 They combined much of the anthem-type compositions of Juan Carlos Oganes with nice and lush vocal harmonies in the style of Queen and Yes.
 The album was produced by him and recorded at Emporium Digital Studios.
 Alter Ego paid much attention to theatrics and used the cinematographic expertise of Oganes -to create a sense of audiovisual entertainment.
 Oganes also directed their videos.
 They recorded much material since their first years and many of those songs ended in their 1997 debut album called "Utopia".
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band whose career spanned twelve years from 1968 to 1980.
 They are widely considered one of the most successful, innovative, and influential rock groups in history.
 During the band's tenure and in the years since they disbanded, many artists have recorded and released cover versions of their songs.
 These include complete tribute albums, live versions, as well versions on studio albums.
 Led Zeppelin has also garnered tribute acts, such as Dread Zeppelin, who performs their songs in a reggae style as sung by an obese Elvis impersonator.
The Mendoza Line was a rock band whose members began playing together while in college in the mid-1990s in Athens, Georgia, USA, and who eventually settled in Brooklyn.
 Their name comes from the dismal .200 batting average of Mario Mendoza.
 They released eight full albums of sometimes folky, occasionally country-styled indie rock that is influenced by classic songwriters like Bob Dylan, John Cale and Paul Westerberg, and alt-country bands like Whiskeytown and Wilco.
 They recorded for several labels, such as Kindercore, Misra, Bar/None Records and Loose Music.
R.E.M. was an American rock band that formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by lead singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist/backing vocalist Mike Mills, and drummer Bill Berry.
 One of the first alternative rock bands, R.E.M. was noted for Stipe's particular vocal quality and obscure lyrics, Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style, and Mills' melodic basslines and backing vocals.
 R.E.M. released its first single—"Radio Free Europe"—in 1981 on the independent record label Hib-Tone.
 The single was followed by the "Chronic Town" EP in 1982, the band's first release on I.R.S. Records.
 In 1983, the group released its critically acclaimed debut album, "Murmur", and built its reputation over the next few years through subsequent releases, constant touring, and the support of college radio.
 Following years of underground success, R.E.M. achieved a mainstream hit in 1987 with the single "The One I Love".
 The group signed to Warner Bros.
 Records in 1988, and began to espouse political and environmental concerns while playing large arenas worldwide.