VIA PRESS RELEASE | Seminal Paisley Underground band Rain Parade announced today that they will release a deluxe edition of their 1985 “lost double album” Crashing Dream on Friday May 30 via Label 51 Recordings, run by Bill Hein, who headed up Enigma Records, the label that originally signed the band in the eighties.
This new, deluxe version of Crashing Dream features a remastered album on compact disc, vinyl, and digital formats and boasts an additional full album of previously unreleased, live, and alternate versions of tracks recorded at sessions and venues for this release.
“Rain Parade were excited that a major label was interested in us, but it became apparent pretty quickly that we had limited support within the Island Records infrastructure,” said the Rain Parade’s Matt Piucci. “The rumors that we were breaking up are false, as we played a US tour upon our return from the UK to support the record.”
“We began working on new material soon as we returned and those demos are on this release, as well as the demos for the Island album as well. It’s an old story, huge label signs band and has no clue what to do with them. We love these songs and are glad they are getting their proper due.”
This new expanded edition features a gatefold album jacket and CD packaging with extensive liner notes and photos from the era when Crashing Dream was recorded. Additionally, several tracks on the expanded edition are from Demolition, a very limited edition CD that the band self-released in 1991, an official “bootleg” of Crashing Dream demos. Demolition has been unavailable for 30 years. All of these recordings have recently been remastered by Rain Parade’s producer Jim Hill.
Rain Parade are THE sound of California: Both North: all the Fillmore West and Haight-Ashbury bands and South: The Doors, Buffalo Springfield, Byrds, and the Sunset Strip. Rain Parade take all of that and filter it through the English psychedelia of The Beatles and Pink Floyd, sprinkle in some Television and other assorted punk/new wave influences. Live, Rain Parade do not disappoint—the sounds coming out of Matt Piucci’s guitar is a lush yet vibrant soundscape like Neil Young’s sinewy lead guitar bumping into a Mellotron helmed by Brian Eno. Steven Roback’s dreamy vocals are like a warm blanket enveloping your brain like a hit of Benzodiazepine.
The early to mid-1980s saw a wave of conservatism wash over America—(Reagan was now in office), and despite its good attributes, for every lovably weird band that MTV turned you on to, it delivered dozens of generically bland artists awash with too many synths, big hair, and spandex.
However, there was an underground revolution happening—countless indie rock labels, regional fanzines, and college radio that embraced what was coming out of smaller cities such as Winston-Salem, Hoboken, Athens, as well as megalopolises like Boston and Los Angeles.
LA’s Rain Parade were descendants of earlier Southern California outfits such as The Byrds, Love, and the Doors. But also, the sounds of swinging London—“Tomorrow Never Knows” era Beatles and Syd Barrett’s Pink Floyd before he fell off of his “Bike.”
Touring was essential to spread the gospel, and Rain Parade crisscrossed America many times as well as made forays into the UK and mainland Europe. Part of the magic of this era was that rules didn’t really exist in smaller clubs. You could march into a backstage area during soundcheck and engage your favorite new bands (i.e., total strangers) in conversation that would cover the gamut from inviting them to sleep on your couch, driving them to the local college radio station for an on-air interview, laying a cassette of your own band on them or asking about other bands from their town to watch out for. Remember folks, we couldn’t “google” anything yet.
Many bands in the UK were clearly paying attention to Rain Parade, and that was apparent soon after by the emergence of the Stone Roses, Teenage Fanclub, Ride, My Bloody Valentine, Charlatans U.K., and others. We clearly remember Andrew Lauder calling us up and telling us (circa 1989) that the members of the Stone Roses had worn out the Rain Parade vinyl he’d given them, and he had to provide them with another set!
Rain Parade 2025 features Matt Piucci, Steven Roback, long-time Rain Parade guitarist John Thoman, multi-instrumentalist/ vocalist Derek See (The Gentle Cycle, Chocolate Watchband, Dean & Britta), and drummer/ percussionist Stephan Junca (Billy Talbot Band, Jon Anderson, The Hellenes, boatclub).
