It was unfashionable in the early 1980s to draw inspiration from the psychedelic music of the 1960s, but a tiny number of fellow travelers on the West Coast accomplished just that. The organizations, known as the Paisley Underground, updated many aspects of the historical period. The Rain Parade, who was a member of this little movement, owed the most to the hazy pop and ethereal psych of the past.
Last Rays of a Dying Sun, the band’s third studio album and its initial release of fresh songs in over forty years, will be released this spring by the reconstituted Rain Parade, one of the major stars of the Paisley Underground scene in the early and mid-’80s Los Angeles.
About their musical journey
The album, the first offering from the new Colorado-based label Flatiron Recordings, helped establish by Bill Hein, who created and operated Enigma Records with his brother in the 1980s, will be released on digital, CD, LP, and cassette in May. The album features new songs written by founding band members Matt Piucci and Steven Roback.
In 1981, Piucci & the late David Roback started the band Rain Parade. To round out the group’s lineup, the two singer-guitarists also recruited Steven Roback, Will Glenn, and Eddie Kalwa. The debut album by Rain Parade, Emergency Third Rail Power Trip, from 1983 is still regarded as the pinnacle of the Paisley Underground movement in Los Angeles, which also featured The Bangles, The Dream Syndicate, and The Three O’Clock.
Before breaking up for the first time, Rain Parade released two more EPs: 1984’s Explosions in the Glass Palace and 1986’s Crashing Dream, both on major labels. Following the publication of Rain Parade’s debut album, David Roback, who passed away in 2020 from cancer, split from the group. He then co-founded Opal alongside Kendra Smith of The Dream Syndicate as well as Mazzy Star with Hope Sandoval.
For a charity concert in 2012, Piucci and Steven Roback reformed Rain Parade. Then, in 2018, they collaborated with The Dream Syndicate, The Bangles, and The Three O’Clock to record the 34 album, a tribute to the Paisley Underground that consisted of songs by all of the four bands on the album.
Their latest release
Now that Rain Parade has finished recording Last Rays of a Dying Sun, guitarist John Thoman, who has been a member of the group since 1984, along with Stephan Junca as drummer & Derek See as guitarist/keyboardist, have joined Picucci and Roback. Background vocals on the new album also come from The Bangles’ Debbi and Vicki Peterson.
