"Look at Merri, she goes round and round."
One of the definitive albums of The Paisley Underground -a music scene that was anything but clearly defined- Rain Parade's Emergency Third Rail Power Trip is an enduring and unassuming gem of post-sixties (neo) psychedelia. While taking inspiration from sixties Jangle-Pop purveyors such as The Byrds as well as the darker psychedelic textures of bands such as The Doors and early Pink Floyd, Rain Parade's debut is more than simply an homage to these psych-rock forefathers; rather, Emergency Third Rail Power Trip bristles with a spirit of inspired re-invention. Led by the Roback brothers and Matt Piucci, Rain Parade successfully integrate the blissed out Rickenbacker jangle of songs such as their first single, "What She's Done to Your Mind" with the dark haze of songs like "Look at Merri," which sounds like a blueprint for Jason Pierce's work with Spiritualized ten years later. On the Explosions in the Glass Palace EP, released the following year after David Roback had left to form Opal with Kendra Smith of The Dream Syndicate, the band takes a slightly more minimalist approach, even moving into Power-Pop territory on "Blue," which seems to conjure the ghost of Chris Bell for the lead guitar part. Despite this, the band also manages to come up with one of its best extended psych-jams, "Prisoners," which is a great mash-up of early and late Pink Floyd. Unfortunately, Rain Parade would never hit these artistic heights again, but their debut more than guarantees their status as a pillar of the neo-psychedelic movement.
Emergency Third Rail Power Trip
1. Talking in My Sleep (3:49)
2. This Can't Be Today (4:37)
3. I Look Around (3:07)
4. 1 Hour ½ Ago (4:15)
5. Carolyn's Song (4:05)
6. What's She Done to Your Mind (2:56)
7. Look at Merri (6:34)
8. Saturday's Asylum (3:46)
9. Kaleidoscope (5:36)
10. Look Both Ways (3:11)
Explosions in the Glass Palace EP
11. You Are My Friend (3:06)
12. Prisoners (3:52)
13. Blue (2:56)
14. Broken Horse (3:43)
15. No Easy Way Down (6:55)
Carolyn's song is so beautiful. I almost cried. Better luck next time. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteEmergency is great but Explosions is pure perfection. Shame they couldn't sustain this level of greatness.
ReplyDeleteYour blog is getting more awesome with each post. Thanks!
Thanks so much for starting this Paisley Underground series. I'm a novice when it comes to this genre and can't wait to explore it.
ReplyDeleteOl' Foggy, you're welcome
ReplyDeleteAnon. thank you and keep coming back. The series is going to be unprecedented. It's really a series on psychedia and neo psychedelia with all of it's offshoots including garage, roots and power pop. It's going to be interesting to see how this series transforms the blog
ReplyDeleteThis is really good. I know enough not to be surprised anymore.
ReplyDeletescurfie, this paisley series will be full of great stuff, a lot of which you might not have heard before. I have accumulated a huge amount of material to post and more is on the way if the postman would hurry the **** up
ReplyDeleteJust noticed that you have the name of the post-Rain Parade band "Viva Saturn" as one of the tags, but you don't have anything by them posted (so far). I'm curious and anxious, do you expect to be posting something by them at some point?
ReplyDeleteMAZE, I'll be posting everything by Viva Saturn in this series. My next post will be a double Rain Parade post. Should have it up tonight (currently writing the review)
ReplyDeleteExcellent. I've wanted to give them a whirl. Thanks in advance.
ReplyDelete