Miracle Legion was a Connecticut-based jangle pop band begun in 1984, consisting of singer Mark Mulcahy, guitarist Mr. Ray Neal, drummer Jeff Wiederschall, and bassist Steven West. Constant comparisons to R.E.M. were largely inaccurate due to the fact that, other than a few similarly sounding songs, the respective bands' sounds were largely dissimilar lyrically and musically. Their first released EP, The Backyard, was released by Incas Records in 1984 and became a college radio hit.