The Rain Parade rank among the core outfits to emerge from the Paisley Underground, the informal coalition of West Coast groups that drew creative fuel from the psychedelic wave of the 1960s. Their debt to that earlier period ran deeper than most contemporaries, manifesting in the languid pacing, clean melodic lines, modal interplay, and atmospheric lyrics that defined the 1983 debut Emergency Third Rail Power Trip—an album that achieved a level of craft rare even among the 1960s originators themselves. The departure of cofounder David Roback for Opal created an abrupt rupture, yet the band recovered with the folk-rock-leaning Explosions in the Glass Palace EP of 1984 and the more contemporary-rock-oriented Crashing Dream LP of 1986 before disbanding. A 2000s reformation brought them back to the stage, and the 2023 album Last Rays of a Dying Sun struck an elegant balance between the debut’s restraint and the harder-edged approach of Crashing Dream.
Guitarists David Roback and Matt Piucci launched the group after rooming together at a Minnesota college. Punk had captured their attention, yet they remained equally drawn to Love and the Byrds; 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 left school in April 1981 to relocate to California for music, and Roback soon joined him. They first assembled the Sidewalks to play 1960s-style garage rock, then shifted toward more nuanced psychedelic territory and became the Rain Parade, adding bassist Steven Roback, keyboardist Will Glenn, and drummer Eddie Kalwa. When they began performing publicly in spring 1982, they realized they belonged to a larger circle that also included the Dream Syndicate, the Long Ryders, Green on Red, True West, the Three O’Clock, and the Bangles—a scene soon labeled the Paisley Underground, even though each act maintained distinct influences. Mid-1982 saw the self-released single “Look What She’s Done to Your Mind” b/w “Kaleidoscope,” and rising local support led to a contract with Enigma Records for the 1983 album Emergency Third Rail Power Trip. Zippo Records, through Demon Records, handled the U.K. release, and the Rain Parade quickly earned critical praise and an expanding audience on both sides of the Atlantic. David Roback exited before the next sessions and resurfaced first with Clay Allison and then with Opal alongside former Dream Syndicate bassist Kendra Smith. The remaining quartet cut the 1984 EP Explosions in the Glass Palace; guitarist John Thoman’s arrival restored the five-piece lineup in time for a Japanese tour that yielded the 1985 live album Beyond the Sunset. A deal with Island Records produced the 1986 studio album Crashing Dream, featuring drummer Mark Marcum, after which this lineup dissolved.
David Roback later achieved broad success with Mazzy Star, Steven Roback formed Viva Saturn, and Matt Piucci recorded the album Can’t Get Lost When You’re Goin’ Nowhere with Tim Lee of the Windbreakers under the name Gone Fishin’. Piucci also contributed to Crazy Horse’s 1989 release Left for Dead. In fall 2012, Matt Piucci, Steven Roback, and John Thoman reconvened the Rain Parade for a benefit show supporting injured Windbreakers guitarist Bobby Sutliff, joined on that occasion by guitarist Mark Hanley, bassist Alec Palao, and drummer Gil Ray. The reconstituted group then undertook a short tour, and in late 2013 they shared bills in Los Angeles and San Francisco with the Bangles, the Three O’Clock, and the Dream Syndicate. Those performances prompted discussions of a joint recording; after several years of coordination, 3x4 appeared on Yep Roc in 2019, with each of the four bands covering a song by each of the others. The Rain Parade’s tracks returned to their early psychedelic style and featured original members Steven Roback and Matt Piucci alongside John Thoman, drummer Stephan Junca, guitarist Derek See, and keyboardist Mark Hanley.
After the reunion concerts and the 3x4 project, Piucci and Steven Roback resumed songwriting together. With a collection of new material ready, they booked time at 25th Street Studios in Oakland, California, with producer Jim Hill. The resulting album, Last Rays of a Dying Sun, arrived in August 2023—their first full-length studio effort in thirty-seven years—and included guest vocals from Debbi Peterson and Vicki Peterson of the Bangles.
