New Rain Parade!

[veteranof1000psychicwars]

I am sure l am not the only mutant on PE that is a fan of the greatest band to come out of the so-called Paisley Underground in the early 80s. I was never much of a fan of any other groups from that scene aside from perhaps The Long Ryders.
In any case stumbling around on the web the other night l was blown away to find that Rain Parade finally got around to recording a follow-up to the classic Crashing Dream, after 38 years.
It is called Last Rays Of A Dying Sun. Looks to be available on all the streaming platforms, and on vinyl and CD as well. I can't imagine that they pressed more than a couple hundred CDs, and l was able to score a sealed copy for $8.99 which included shipping. I am broke but not stupid!
Saw them at 688 twice in Atlanta back in the day, and they briefly reformed in 2012 for 4 shows, I think (to pay medical bills for a friend), and one of those shows was at The Earl in Atlanta. A neat surprise at that show was Gil Ray on drums, from the late great Game Theory (and RIP to Gil as well).
Anyway that they reformed to play live in 2012 was a miracle in itself...and l am waiting with a bit of excitement for my copy of this new album to show up in the mail.
I'm certainly not expecting anything on the level of Emergency 3rd RPT, the peerless Explosions In The Glass Palace, or even Crashing Dream Part 2.
I am excited enough that it exists and l will hear it soon, it will certainly be a terrific balm for my sunburned psyche.
Will of course be interested to hear from anyone who loves this band, and perhaps checks out this new album.

[spacefreak]

Without David Roback it would be hard to digest.

[arturs]

I am excited to give this a listen. E3RPT was played to the death on my turntable in '84. Despite the vinyl being in crappy shape due to my overplaying it, I kept it because of the beautiful album cover.

I had heard nothing about the reformation or the new album. I also had no idea David Roback had passed on, but at least the other guys have a good excuse for not including him in the lineup...

[veteranof1000psychicwars]

David Roback left the band 40 years ago, everything they did subsequent to that was without his input. Explosions In The Glass Palace is especially great.

[veteranof1000psychicwars]

Just a couple extra comments...this band was fantastic before and after the involvement of David Roback who had already left the band before they got any national traction. In 'prog' terms his leaving had a similar effect to Peter Banks leaving Yes. A "no David Roback = no Rain Parade" is just as ludicrous an equivalency as "no Peter Banks = no Yes".
I am not anti-D. Roback but Rain Parade did just fine after he left, following up quickly (not replacing David) with the extraordinary Explosions In The Glass Palace, which Steve Wynn says was hands down the best record to come out of that scene, by anyone. And followed that with the excellent Crashing Dream.
The main ingredients of RP were always intact, the vocals and melodic bass of Steven Roback, and the vocal counterpoint of Matt Piucci, along with his instantly identifiable and inventive guitar style and tone.
Having been a fan since E3RPT l have to confess l am at a loss to hear how the band suffered by losing David Roback.
Again l do not mean to offend but if it was worth his leaving to come up with Mazzy Star several years later, that is absolutely your cup of tea. I dozed off just typing the band name.
In any case if you were a fan of E3RPT, please at least check out Explosions, and you will find things to dig on Crashing Dream.
And most certainly check out the new album if you like what they did then.
In context they are not gonna break any new ground, they are just digging deeper into the mine they pick-axed open 40 years ago.

[spacefreak]

In any case if you were a fan of E3RPT, please at least check out Explosions, and you will find things to dig on Crashing Dream.

I was after them in real time. I'm still keeping Emergency Third Rail Power Trip (their classic release i.m.o.) and the mini LP Explosions In The Glass Palace. Dave Roback has co-written their best track i.m.o.: No Easy Way Down; he was the psychedelic eye within them. He left; the kaleidoscopic sound was lost. The live album with the parotts on the cover left me indifferent and Crashing Dream had been my exit point. I preferred Opal by miles and Mazzy Star had also better albums than everything post 1996 Rain Parade. Will check the new one out of informative curiosity but I don't have any high hopes.

But that's my opinion from someone that in 2023 has kept only a handful of albums from the Paisley Underground and his tastes have moved elsewhere, long time ago.

[arturs]

But when re-unions happen, it's often with original members or earlier members even if they had left long before the pre-reunion breakup. Gillan and Glover were a part of the 1984 Deep Purple reunion for example. Or maybe more relevant for the Rain Parade, Chris Stamey was back in the dB's for their millennial re-union effort, even though he was gone for most of the 1980s dBs records.

So it is reasonable to think D Roback might have been involved with the new music. Even though I loved E3RPT I never saw or heard of their follow ups in any record stores or in the magazines or anything. So I always assumed Roback had been in the band until whenever they first broke up. Of course I knew he resurfaced with Mazzy Star in the 90s and had that one huge huge song (good for him! every toiling musician deserves a huge hit). But that's it. Anyway, a belated RIP.

[Scrotum Scissor]

I was after them in real time. I'm still keeping Emergency Third Rail Power Trip (their classic release i.m.o.) and the mini LP Explosions In The Glass Palace. Dave Roback has co-written their best track i.m.o.: No Easy Way Down; he was the psychedelic eye within them. He left; the kaleidoscopic sound was lost. The live album with the parotts on the cover left me indifferent and Crashing Dream had been my exit point. I preferred Opal by miles and Mazzy Star had also better albums than everything post 1996 Rain Parade. Will check the new one out of informative curiosity but I don't have any high hopes.

But that's my opinion from someone that in 2023 has kept only a handful of albums from the Paisley Underground and his tastes have moved elsewhere, long time ago.

We're in agreement - as almost always. Emergency Third Rail and Glass Palace are indispensable and priceless statements of an exact time and place in the US post-punk/rock chronicle; not duly "retro" but rather a perfectly contemporary extension to a set of vibes and drills sadly lost along the way. "No Easy Way Down" - and especially when the strings arrive - is out of this world ecstatic.

What truly strikes me now is that RP probably were the quintessential combo of that entire makeup (Paisley). Early releases by Three O'Clock, Green On Red, True West, The Long Ryders and Dream Syndicate definitely contain some marvellous songs, but these bands were never really as consistent in neither approach nor identity or quality as Rain Parade.

But then again, I also find The Replacements, R.E.M. and the likes somewhat uneven, even on their respectively hallowed debut albums; to my ears they were rehashing Gun Club, Big Star and The Flamin' Groovies shamelessly over.

Opal were nice, still not that decisively adherent to the Paisley aesthetic. I saw them more as a distinctly American knock at This Mortal Coil et al. in British art-pop of the day.

But Thin White Rope were ravishing! Granted they didn't tend to be reckoned among the Paisley 'proper', yet witnessing them mash out 20 minutes of Can's "Yoo Doo Right" to a sardine-packed dungeon in '93 (i.e. our local rock club 'Garage' in Bergen) was certainly an experience soon of myth and legend. No wonder bands as odd as Slint or Big Black kept referring to them; Thin White Rope's entire roster of recorded work deserves to be (re)discovered - alas unlikely.

OMG... four decades passed the past!

[spacefreak]

^
To me as well, Thin White Rope were the best band of that specific scene (in a wider way, as they had a more "desert" sound).