In the early '80s it wasn't fashionable to look back to the psychedelic sounds of the '60s for inspiration,
but a small group of fellow travelers on the West Coast did just that. Dubbed the Paisley Underground, the groups took different elements of the era and updated them for the times. The Rain Parade were part of this small movement and they were the most indebted to the mystical psych and hazy pop of the bygone era.
It’s a mid-April 2022 morning, and Matt is somewhere in Oakland, California, on the way to get his
booster shot. Besides vaccination, the man has another reason to celebrate: an imminent vinyl re-release of the Rain Parade’s classic 1984 EP Explosions in a Glass Palace, part deux of the band’s famed Paisley Underground ‘Shots Heard Round the World’ (after 1983’s Emergency Third Rail Power Trip). Retro 1960s psychedelia never sounded so good. But from whence the inspiration to follow an archaic, trippy muse that none of their punk or new-wave contemporaries cared about?
Their 1983 debut album Emergency Third Rail Power Trip combined languid tempos, streamlined melodies, modal counterpoints and impressionistic lyrics with a skill that few of the original groups of
the '60s could manage. After that impressive start, the band faced a major setback when founding member David Roback left to form Opal. Piucci met the other early members of Rain Parade. “David Roback and I, as well as John Thoman, all went to Carleton south of Minneapolis in 1975,” he says. “David and I were assigned as roommates – the school threw us together. We bonded over surrealistic art and ’60s psychedelia.”
They bounced back to release a country rock-tinged EP (1984's Explosions in the Glass Palace) and
record that cut back on psych in favor of more modern rock sounds (1986's Crashing Dream) before splitting up. They did re-form in the 2000s to play a series of shows, and in 2019 appeared with other Paisley Underground bands to create 3x4, an album where the bands paid tribute to each other by covering each others songs. The Rain Parade was formed by guitarists David Roback and Matt Piucci, who met when they were roommates at a small college in Minnesota.
Both had a keen interest in music, and while their heads had been turned by the explosion of punk rock,
both were fascinated by bands like Love and the Byrds, and as Roback told a reporter, "the Rain Parade was very much a recasting of our punk interests in more musical terms, inspired by our fascination with music history." Piucci decided to leave school in April 1981 in order to move to California and make music, and Roback followed suit.
RAIN PARADE - BEYOND THE SUNSET 1985
Label:Lemon Recordings – CDLEM150
Format:CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered
Country:UK
Released:2010
Genre:Rock
Style:Alternative Rock, Psychedelic Rock
TRACKS
01. Night Shade 2:50
Written-By – M. Piucci, S. Roback
02. Prisoners 3:26
Written-By – M. Piucci, S. Roback, W.Glenn
03. This Can't Be Today 4:14
Written-By – M. Piucci, S. Roback
04. Blue 2:37
Written-By – M. Piucci
05. Eyes Closed 2:38
Written-By – M. Piucci
06. Ain't That Nothing 4:12
Written-By – T. Verlaine
07. Don't Feel Bad 3:21
Written-By – M. Piucci, S. Roback
08. 1 1/2 Hours Ago 4:17
Written-By – D. Roback, S. Roback
09. No Easy Way Down 6:36
Written-By – D. Roback, M. Piucci, S. Roback, W. Glenn
10. Cheap Wine 5:09
Rhythm Guitar, Vocals – Steve Wynn/Tambourine – Dennis Duck/Written-By – D. Stewart
NOTES
Drums – Mark Marcum
Keyboards, Violin – Will Glenn
Liner Notes – Jud Cost
Producer – Jim Hill, Rain Parade
Remastered By – Andy Pearce
Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar – John Thoman, Matt Piucci
Vocals, Bass, Acoustic Guitar – Steven Roback
Recorded live at Shibuya Public Hall, Tokyo, Japan, December 16, 1984
Remixed at Mad Dog Studios, Venice, California, USA
MP3 @ 320 Size: 93 MB
Flac Size: 242 MB
RAIN PARADE - CRASHING DREAM 1985
Label: Lemon Recordings – CDLEM149
Format: CD, Album, Remastered, Reissue
Country: UK
Released: 2009
Genre: Rock
Style: Alternative Rock, Acoustic, Psychedelic Rock
TRACKS
01. Depending On You 3:32
02. My Secret Country 3:15
03. Dont Feel Bad 3:19
04. Mystic Green 2:49
05. Sad Eyes Kill 3:16
06. Shoot Down The Railroad Man 3:23
07. Fertile Crescent 3:38
08. Invisible People 3:06
09. Gone West 3:44
10. Only Business 1:45
NOTES
Artwork By [Art Direction, Design], Photography – Brian D. Mclaughlin
Backing Vocals, Guitar – John Thoman
Drums, Percussion – Mark Marcum
Engineer – Scott Church
Keyboards – Will Glenn
Mastered By – Doug Sax
Producer, Engineer – Steve Gronback
Remastered By – Andy Pearce
Vocals, Bass, Piano – Steven Roback
Vocals, Guitar – Matt Piucci
MP3 @ 320 Size: 79 MB
Flac Size: 219 MB
RAIN PARADE - DEMOLITION 1991
Label:090 Records – 090-010
Format: CD, Album
Country:US
Released:1991
Genre:Rock
Style:Alternative Rock, Art Rock, Indie Rock
TRACKS
01. Sad Eyes Kill 3:07
02. Mystic Green 3:15
03. Shoot Down The Railroad Man 3:00
04. My Secret Country 3:00
05. Invisible People 2:15
06. Only Business 1:55
07. Crashing Dream 6:44
08. Depending On You 3:19
09. Gone West 3:45
10. My Dog's Last Dream 3:24
11. Tranquility Base 3:01
12. The Sniper 4:10
13. Murder Boy 3:18
14. Got The Fear 4:40
15. TV Stone 2:09
16. Undermine 2:30
17. Novocaine 2:43
18. Power 2:47
19. Every Morning Does 3:30
NOTES
Drums – Carlo Nuccio (tracks: 9), Ivan Knight (tracks: 12, 14, 17), Mark Marcum (tracks: 1 to 4, 7, 8, 19)
Guitar – Rob Stennet (tracks: 18)
Guitar, Vocals – John Thoman (tracks: 1 to 5, 7 to 9, 12, 14, 17, 19)
Keyboards – Raymond E. Berg (tracks: 9)
Keyboards, Violin – Will Glenn (tracks: 1 to 5, 7, 8, 19)
Vocals, Bass, Guitar – Steven Roback
Vocals, Guitar, Bass – Matt Piucci
Demos, radio sessions, and live tracks recorded between 1984 and 1988.
MP3 @ 320 Size: 147 MB
Flac Size: 360 MB
RAIN PARADE - PERFUME RIVER
Label:Rainfall Records – CLOUD006
Format: CD, Album
Country:UK
Released:2002
Genre:Rock
Style:Alternative Rock, Psychedelic Rock
TRACKS
01. Kaleidoscope 5:23
02. This Can't Be Today 4:17
03. Prisoners 3:44
04. Crashing Dream 5:45
05. Blue 2:40
06. You Are My Friend 3:01
07. Sad Eyes Kill 3:09
08. No Easy Way Down 6:37
09. Broken Horse 3:40
10. Ain't That Nothin' (Written-By – T. Verlaine) 4:24
11. What She's Done To Your Mind 3:22
12. Saturday's Asylum 3:39
13. Like A Hurricane (Written-By – N. Young) 4:45
14. What Goes On (Written-By – L. Reed) 4:42
NOTES
Drums – Mark Marcum
Guitar, Vocals – John Thoman
Keyboards – Will Glenn
Vocals, Bass, Guitar – Steven Roback
Vocals, Guitar – Matt Piucci
Written-By – D. Roback (tracks: 8, 11), M. Piucci (tracks: 2 to 8, 11, 12), S. Roback (tracks: 1 to 4, 6 to 9, 12), W. Glenn (tracks: 3, 8)
Limited edition of 1000
On back cover:
The songs 13 and 14 included various members of Rain Parade,
The Long Ryders and The Chesterfield Kings making loud noises and generally misbehaving.
They were sent to their rooms without their supper and promise they will never do it again.
Recorded live at Scorgie's, Rochester NY on 11/14/84.
MP3 @ 320 Size: 136 MB
Flac Size: 400 MB
Rain Parade: Emergency Third Rail Power Trip (1983) + Explosions In The Glass Palace EP (1984) on Urban Aspirines HERE.