The Three O'Clock were the quintessential L.A. Paisley Underground band. Lead singer and bassist Michael Quercio in fact coined the term to describe the set of bands, including the Dream Syndicate, Rain Parade, Green On Red and the Bangles, who incorporated the chiming guitars of the Byrds and the Beatles into their pop songs with a psychedelic... [+] Read More

The Three O'Clock were the quintessential L.A. Paisley Underground band. Lead singer and bassist Michael Quercio in fact coined the term to describe the set of bands, including the Dream Syndicate, Rain Parade, Green On Red and the Bangles, who incorporated the chiming guitars of the Byrds and the Beatles into their pop songs with a psychedelic bent, and the clothes to match. Beginning as the Salvation Army in 1982 as a three-piece and forsaking the name due to a conflict with the actual organization, the Three O'Clock originally included Quercio, and guitarist Louis (formerly Gregg) Gutierrez. The band plied a garagey sound on their self-titled debut in 1982. When ex-Weirdos drummer Danny Benair and keyboardist Mickey Mariano joined for the follow-up EP Baroque Hoedown and the LP Sixteen Tambourines in 1983, the band found a more polished, perfect pop sound. In 1985 they released Arrive Without Travelling for IRS, followed by Ever After (IRS). Gutierrez departed in 1986. For their Warner Brothers/Paisley Park debut (Prince was a fan), Vermillion, Jason Falkner was added on guitar. Sadly, it proved to be their undoing, as they never really fulfilled the label's expectations and Quercio refused to be pigeonholed as a pretty-boy pop star or spokesperson for the premature retro revival. Quercio continues to play in L.A. pop bands, while Gutierrez became a principle member of Mary's Danish, and Falkner is a solo recording artist. ~ Denise Sullivan, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Among the L.A. groups dubbed Paisley Underground (Dream Syndicate, the Bangles, Three O'Clock), Rain Parade were the closest to being the real deal for their use of psychedelic flourishes thoroughout their first album. Formed in Los Angeles in the early '80s, the group consisted of David Roback (vocals, guitar), Steven Roback (vocals, bass),... [+] Read More

Among the L.A. groups dubbed Paisley Underground (Dream Syndicate, the Bangles, Three O'Clock), Rain Parade were the closest to being the real deal for their use of psychedelic flourishes thoroughout their first album. Formed in Los Angeles in the early '80s, the group consisted of David Roback (vocals, guitar), Steven Roback (vocals, bass), Matt Piucci (vocals, guitar), Will Glenn (keyboards), and Eddie Kalwa (drums). Their first single, "What She's Done to Your Mind," was a certifiable hit on college radio, and the band quickly followed with a full-length LP for Enigma in 1983, Emergency Third Rail Power Trip. For 1984's Explosions in the Glass Palace, (Restless) the band lost David Roback to Opal, but John Thoman took over and Mark Marcum filled in for the departed Eddie Kalwa. The re-formed band recorded the live album Beyond the Sunset (1985, Restless) and Crashing Dream (Island, 1986) before disbanding. David Roback went on to finesse Opal into Mazzy Star, Steven Roback, and Thoman worked as Viva Saturn, and Piucci recorded an album with Crazy Horse -- yes, that Crazy Horse. ~ Denise Sullivan, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Not so much a band as a long, strange trip, the chaotic avant pop pranksters Mercury Rev formed in Buffalo, NY, in the late '80s. Originally comprised of vocalist David Baker, vocalist/silver pickup guitarist Jonathan Donahue, guitar shaper/single-exhaust clarinetist Grasshopper (born Sean Mackowiak), rooster-tail bass flutist Suzanne Thorpe,... [+] Read More

Not so much a band as a long, strange trip, the chaotic avant pop pranksters Mercury Rev formed in Buffalo, NY, in the late '80s. Originally comprised of vocalist David Baker, vocalist/silver pickup guitarist Jonathan Donahue, guitar shaper/single-exhaust clarinetist Grasshopper (born Sean Mackowiak), rooster-tail bass flutist Suzanne Thorpe, bass explorer Dave Fridmann, and mojo stick drummer Jimy Chambers, the sextet -- always rife with personality conflicts -- interacted with one another infrequently, and their first recordings evolved simply as a means of creating soundtracks for the members' experimental student films as well as for Howard Nelson's Lite-Brite and Marco Fogg's Sugardaddy Sea.

Encouraged to further their music by academic mentor Tony Conrad -- a minimalist composer and multimedia artist who had performed with John Cale, La Monte Young, and Faust -- the loosely connected aggregate dubbed Mercury Rev (a name whose inspiration was variously attributed to an imaginary Russian ballet dancer, a sharp rise in temperature, or a revved-up auto) began to emerge, and eventually the group recorded a demo onto a reel of 35mm magnetic film. At the same time, Donahue was working as a concert promoter and scheduled a Butthole Surfers gig; after the show, he befriended the support act, Oklahoma's likeminded Flaming Lips, and soon joined the tour as a guitar technician. Ultimately, Donahue -- under the alias "Dingus" -- became the Lips' lead guitarist, and with them recorded 1990's In a Priest Driven Ambulance, an album produced by Fridmann.

With Mercury Rev effectively in limbo and its members scattered across the country, their demo tape somehow made its way to the British offices of the Rough Trade label, which contacted Baker about signing the group. Soon, the band convened to record their debut, Yerself Is Steam, an LP cut at the same time Donahue and Fridmann were also working on the Flaming Lips' major-label bow, Hit to Death in the Future Head. A brilliantly melodic and free-form set highlighted by distorted art pop epics like "Chasing a Bee," "Coney Island Cyclone," and "Frittering," Yerself Is Steam was issued to widespread acclaim in 1991; however, within weeks of the LP's release Rough Trade's American branch declared bankruptcy, aborting any hopes of proper distribution or promotion.

Still, a British tour followed, and not without incident; the performances, mounted without any practice sessions, constantly teetered on the brink of disintegration -- set lists were nonexistent, and Baker frequently hopped off the stage (in midsong, no less) to grab a drink. Additionally, the group was reportedly banned from air travel after Donahue attempted to gouge out Grasshopper's eye with a spoon in mid-flight. Following the tour, Mercury Rev again went their separate ways; the members found menial jobs, moved in with their parents, or earned money by participating in medical experiments. Finally, Sony signed the group and reissued Yerself Is Steam along with an extra track, the sublime single "Car Wash Hair" (recorded with the aid of Luna's Dean Wareham after Fridmann -- much to his bandmates' dismay -- spent all of their advance money to fund a Bermuda vacation package for his mother).

Amid considerable tension, Mercury Rev set up studio space in a barn to craft their second album; after completing the principal recording sessions, the group collected samples from sites as far-ranging as Times Square and NASA's Cape Canaveral to flesh out the music's dense, prismatic sound. Following the release of the stunning 1993 LP, dubbed Boces in honor of an upstate New York school for children, Mercury Rev again toured, even playing the second stage at Lollapalooza; ultimately, the band was kicked off the bill during the festival's Denver stop due to excessive noise -- the electricity to the stage was cut off in mid-performance, and concert security removed their soundman in a headlock. Additionally, an elaborate video for the single "Something for Joey" was shot with the notorious porn star Ron Jeremy, but the clip's suggestive space-age sexcapades and visual double-entendres made mainstream airplay a moot point.

After relations soured to the point where Baker was traveling to gigs apart from his bandmates, he was dismissed from Mercury Rev's ranks; under the name Shady, he returned in 1994 with World, an excellent solo LP recorded with luminaries from the Boo Radleys, Rollerskate Skinny, and St. Johnny. With their newly perfected Tettix Wave Accumulator (patent pending) in tow, the remaining quintet returned to the studio to record 1995's See You on the Other Side, a beautiful, shimmering effort which found the group -- newly freed of Baker's darker impulses -- exploring increasingly diverse stylistic territory with newfound emotional depth. Under the name Harmony Rockets, Mercury Rev also issued 1995's Paralyzed Mind of the Archangel Void, a 40-minute improvisational excursion into ambient noise. The lovely Deserter's Songs followed in the fall of 1998, and the album's appearance on dozens of best-of lists sparked a renaissance of sorts for the group, especially in England. For their next album, the band was slated to work with Jack Nitzsche -- famous for his arrangements on many classics of the Phil Spector canon -- until Nitzsche passed away a week before recording began. Expanding on the dramatic blueprint of Deserter's Songs (in a way Nitzsche would surely have been proud of), Mercury Rev released All Is Dream on September 11, 2001. Secret Migration arrived in 2005; reflecting the band's popularity in the UK, it was released there that winter and in the US that spring. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Spacemen 3 were psychedelic in the loosest sense of the word; their guitar explorations were colorfully mind-altering, but not in the sense of the acid rock of the '60s. Instead, the band developed its own minimalistic psychedelia, relying on heavily distorted guitars to clash and produce their own harmonic overtones; frequently, they would lead... [+] Read More

Spacemen 3 were psychedelic in the loosest sense of the word; their guitar explorations were colorfully mind-altering, but not in the sense of the acid rock of the '60s. Instead, the band developed its own minimalistic psychedelia, relying on heavily distorted guitars to clash and produce their own harmonic overtones; frequently, they would lead up to walls of distortion with overamplified acoustic guitars and synths. Often the band would jam on one chord or play a series of songs, all in the same tempo and key. Though this approach was challenging, often bordering on the avant-garde, Spacemen 3 nevertheless gained a dedicated cult following. After releasing several albums in the late '80s, the band fell apart after in 1991.

In 1982, Sonic Boom (guitar, organ, vocals; born Pete Kember on November 19, 1965) and Jason Pierce (guitar, organ, vocals; also born November 19, 1965) formed Spacemen 3 in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Sonic Boom and Pierce added a rhythm section comprised of Pete Baines and Rosco, and spent the next four years rehearsing and jamming. In 1986, the group released its debut album, Sound of Confusion, on Glass Records. At first the band sounded a bit like a punked-up garage rock band, but their music quickly evolved into their signature trance-like neo-psychedelia. Spacemen 3's second album, 1987's The Perfect Prescription, was the first to capture the group's distinctive style.

Following 1989's Playing With Fire, Baines and Rosco left the group to form their own band, the Darkside. They were replaced by Will Carruthers and Jon Mattock. Despite the addition of new blood to its lineup, the band was beginning to fray because of in-fighting between Sonic Boom and Pierce, as well as the former's increasing drug dependency. The new lineup struggled through a final album, 1991's Recurring, which featured Boom's songs on side one and Pierce's on side two. By the time of the release of Recurring, Pierce was performing with Carruthers and Mattock in a new band called Spiritualized. Shortly after the release of Recurring, Spacemen 3 split, and Spiritualized became Pierce's full-time band, eventually earning a cult following of its own. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide [-] Hide

The Bevis Frond was Nick Saloman, a neo-psychedelic renaissance man and the sole writer, performer and producer behind the cottage industry bearing the Frond name. The head of his own label (Woronzow) as well as the co-publisher of his own underground magazine (the highly regarded Ptolemaic Terrascope), Saloman was a quintessential English... [+] Read More

The Bevis Frond was Nick Saloman, a neo-psychedelic renaissance man and the sole writer, performer and producer behind the cottage industry bearing the Frond name. The head of his own label (Woronzow) as well as the co-publisher of his own underground magazine (the highly regarded Ptolemaic Terrascope), Saloman was a quintessential English eccentric, a frighteningly prolific talent and a true anachronism purveying an archaic musical genre while simultaneously pioneering the lo-fi aesthetic. Saloman cloaked his formative years in mystery; according to legend, he formed his first band, the Bevis Frond Museum, during his school years, and after the group disbanded he performed solo acoustic sets throughout the London area known as Walthamstow. After founding the Von Trapp Family, later known as Room 13, Saloman was sidelined in 1982 following a motorcycle accident. With the money he received as compensation for his injuries, he revived the Bevis Frond name and during his recuperation period assembled 1986's Miasma, a slice of twisted, latter-day psychedelia issued on Woronzow in a pressing of 250.

Much to Saloman's shock, the record sold out; realizing an audience existed for his brand of time-warped pop, he quickly issued Inner Marshland, another underground success which encouraged him to raid his extensive archives for more material. With the floodgates opened, new Bevis Frond material -- much of it written and recorded at Saloman's home long before it ever saw release -- appeared constantly; in 1988 alone, Woronzow issued three separate collections, Triptych, Bevis Through the Looking Glass and Acid Jam, all spotlighting his surreal wit and acute social commentary. Beginning with 1990's Any Gas Faster, Saloman was secure enough financially to begin recording in an outside studio; as the new decade dawned, he also made his live debut, appearing sporadically with an ever-changing group of backing musicians. After 1990's Magic Eye, a joint collaboration with former Pink Fairy Twink, the Bevis Frond issued its acknowledged masterpiece, 1991's double-LP set New River Head; erratic and eclectic, Saloman's output continued on without concession to trends or consumer tastes, with new albums appearing with clocklike precision: 1993's It Just Is, 1995's Superseeder, 1998's two-disc North Circular and 1999's Vavona Burr, plus the excellent concert recording Live at the Great American Music Hall, San Francisco. Valedictory Songs followed two years later. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide [-] Hide

After David Baker left the group for weirder pastures, the rest of Mercury Rev returned with See You on the Other Side, an album very much in the group's expansive, experimental tradition, yet distinct from its work with Baker. The sprawling compositions, elaborate arrangements, and jazzy leanings Mercury Rev perfected on Boces return on See You... [+] Read More

After David Baker left the group for weirder pastures, the rest of Mercury Rev returned with See You on the Other Side, an album very much in the group's expansive, experimental tradition, yet distinct from its work with Baker. The sprawling compositions, elaborate arrangements, and jazzy leanings Mercury Rev perfected on Boces return on See You on the Other Side, as exemplified by the opening track, "Empire State (Son House in Excelsis)." But without Baker's merry prankster vocals, the album feels a bit unbalanced, as though the group was still adjusting to making music without him when the album was recorded. The lean, tense "Young Man's Stride" could've had even more impact had Baker sung it but, for the most part, Jonathan Donahue handles all the vocal duties ably, swinging the group toward its gently whimsical side in the process. The brilliant single "Everlasting Arm" sweetly deconstructs Pet Sounds-style pop years before that became one of indie rock's dominant styles, while "A Kiss From an Old Flame (A Trip to the Moon)" lives up to its title with giddy, swirling flutes and otherworldly backing vocals. Dreamy, yearning songs like "Sudden Ray of Hope" and "Racing the Tide" revel in the unabashed prettiness that Mercury Rev used to hide under layers of freaked-out guitars, and "Peaceful Night," the group's quirky take on Tin Pan Alley songwriting, proves that they weren't getting less inventive as time went on, they were just getting subtler about it. See You on the Other Side's relatively short length adds to its rather unfair middle-child status, but it pointed the way toward Mercury Rev's breakthrough with Deserter's Songs, and is a completely charming -- if underrated -- album in its own right. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Appropriately preceded by the mind-melting crunch of the "Revolution" single, Playing With Fire proved to be the end of Spacemen 3 as a functioning band, but in truly spectacular fashion. Exploring both the depths of serene, agog beauty and sheer tape-shredding chaos, Playing With Fire pushed the extremes of The Perfect Prescription to an even... [+] Read More

Appropriately preceded by the mind-melting crunch of the "Revolution" single, Playing With Fire proved to be the end of Spacemen 3 as a functioning band, but in truly spectacular fashion. Exploring both the depths of serene, agog beauty and sheer tape-shredding chaos, Playing With Fire pushed the extremes of The Perfect Prescription to an even further edge. It's little surprise that Pierce and Sonic couldn't find themselves properly working together after it, but even less that hordes of bands to follow would rank Playing With Fire as the equal (or better) of psychedelia's '60s/'70s forebears. Sonic himself is quoted in one reissue's liner notes as feeling the album "was the refining point of a lot of my theories on minimalism being maximalism" -- as apt a description as any. One of his songs, "How Does It Feel?," sums it up by using a series of notes echoing off into the distance, again and again. With future Spiritualized bassist Will Carruthers in place of Bain, the trio (and uncredited drummer) created glazed, liquid songs with subtle arrangements and sheer reveling in aural joys. Flange is everywhere, as is echo, full dynamic stereo mixes and more, a feast of sound. When aiming toward a gentler, hushed sound, most notably on Pierce's compositions, the incorporation of gospel power filtered through the band's own perspective results in wonders, as heard on "Come Down Softly to My Soul" and the album closing "Lord Can You Hear Me?" As for the louder end of things, besides the awesome "Revolution" itself, a slow burn blast that just keeps getting more and more obsessive and frenetic as it goes, Sonic calling for a release of energy in a mere five seconds, the other complete freakout is "Suicide." An instrumental tribute to the New York synth pioneers, Spacemen 3 keep the minimalism and up the feedback with astonishing results. Initial repressings of the album in the mid-'90s included tracks from the Revolution and Threebie singles, while an elaborate reissue in 1999 also including a full extra disc of demos and rarities, including covers of the Perfect Disaster's "Girl On Fire" and the Troggs' "Anyway That You Want Me" -- eventually Spiritualized's first single. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Sonic Boom's liner notes from the 1994 reissue in many ways capture the whole point of Spacemen 3's full-length debut: "[It] was basically an exorcism for us of our early material...we began our discography with an equal nod to our influences and our inspirations." Indeed, calling Sound of Confusion derivative misses the point entirely, where... [+] Read More

Sonic Boom's liner notes from the 1994 reissue in many ways capture the whole point of Spacemen 3's full-length debut: "[It] was basically an exorcism for us of our early material...we began our discography with an equal nod to our influences and our inspirations." Indeed, calling Sound of Confusion derivative misses the point entirely, where calling it anything but a clear and specific homage to a sound and style would be a complete mistake. Three of its seven songs are cover versions -- "Rollercoaster" by the 13th Floor Elevators, "Mary Anne" by Juicy Lucy, and the Stooges' "Little Doll" -- while the originals are at once very much Spacemen 3 songs and clear distillations of everything the band members were tripping out on at the time. Though Sonic and Pierce later expressed a preference for the takes included on the Taking Drugs to Make Music bootleg, the rough garage energy throughout still makes Sound of Confusion a fine listen, if nowhere near as stunning as where the band would later go. As was the case throughout the band's early days, Pierce handled all the vocals with the right amount of diffidence and low-key intensity, while he and Sonic cranked up the amps for minimal, bluntly entrancing riffs and the Brooker/Bain rhythm section chugged along. Of the originals, leadoff cut "Losing Touch With My Mind" is the strongest of the bunch, a perfect fusion of the psych/proto-punk/drone influences of its creators sent into the outer void. Meanwhile, "Hey Man," the title audibly playing off the rhythm and sound of the word "amen," is the first of many overt references to gospel music that Pierce would incorporate for years to come. Some later CD versions included the Walking With Jesus EP for bonus tracks, along with one of the many demo takes on "2:35." ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Signing to Arista might have seemed an unusual move to start with, getting produced by L.A. studio types like Waddy Wachtel even more so. But for the Church the rewards were great -- if sometimes too clean around the corners in comparison to the song-for-song masterpiece Heyday, Starfish set up the band's well-deserved breakthrough in the... [+] Read More

Signing to Arista might have seemed an unusual move to start with, getting produced by L.A. studio types like Waddy Wachtel even more so. But for the Church the rewards were great -- if sometimes too clean around the corners in comparison to the song-for-song masterpiece Heyday, Starfish set up the band's well-deserved breakthrough in the States. The reason was "Under the Milky Way," still one of the most haunting and elegant songs ever to make the Top 40. As Kilbey details a lyric of emotional distance and atmosphere, the band executes a quietly beautiful -- and as is so often the case with the Church, astonishingly well-arranged -- song, with mock bagpipes swirling through the mix for extra effect. That wasn't the only strong point on an album with more than a few; the lead-off track "Destination" was as strong an album opener as "Myrrh," if slower paced and much more mysterious, piano blending through the song's steady pace. The rest of the first side has its share of highlights, such as the quietly threatening edge of "Blood Money" and the confident, restrained charge of "North, South, East and West." Willson-Piper gets to lead off the second side with "Spark," a vicious, tight rocker that captures some of the best '60s rock edge and gives it a smart update. Equally strong is Kilbey's "Reptile," with an appropriately snaky guitar line and rhythm punch offset against weirdly soothing keyboards. Koppes has an okay vocal to his credit on "A New Season," but the stronger tracks are Kilbey's other contributions, the strong guitar waltz of "Antenna" (with great guest mandolin from David Lindley) and the closing charge (and very Church-like title) of "Hotel Womb." Performances throughout are at the least fine and at the most fantastic. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Disappointingly, the 1980s failed to recognize the genius of Robyn Hitchcock. As a member of the Soft Boys until they broke up in 1981, Hitchcock went on to write some extremely witty, off-the-wall, and peculiarly clever music. With a sound reminiscent of Lloyd Cole and even Elvis Costello at times, Hitchcock's jangly Brit-pop is made up of... [+] Read More

Disappointingly, the 1980s failed to recognize the genius of Robyn Hitchcock. As a member of the Soft Boys until they broke up in 1981, Hitchcock went on to write some extremely witty, off-the-wall, and peculiarly clever music. With a sound reminiscent of Lloyd Cole and even Elvis Costello at times, Hitchcock's jangly Brit-pop is made up of sharp lyrical craftsmanship and a frolicsome weightlessness that gives his music a distinct charisma. This hits collection is a fine example of his work with the Egyptians dating back to their formation in 1987, made up of album selections, rarities, B-sides, and promotional singles, most of which failed to surface on any of their albums. Riding on the strength of college radio, tunes like "A Globe of Frogs" and "Balloon Man" eventually gained popular admiration, even if it was for a short while. The tongue-in-cheek subtlety of "Legalized Murder" is typical of Hitchcock's humor, and the bizarre effusiveness of "Madonna of the Wasps" is fittingly left of center. The band's cover of Roxy Music's "More Than This" holds up a little better than their attempt at the Byrds' "Eight Miles High," but is a valiant effort nonetheless. Intriguing pieces like "The Yip Song," "Dark Green Energy," and "She Doesn't Exist" confirm that Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians possess a unique imagination as well as an adept spiritedness, which should have led to wider attention. ~ Mike DeGagne, All Music Guide [-] Hide