Paisley Underground – An Xperience Article

Paisley Underground – An Xperience Article – by Tara Dee.

I had the privilege of being a guest on Kaleidoscope recently, joining Jimmy and Artie for a show highlighting the Paisley Underground. And while on some level it’s great to simply let the music speak for itself, there’s so much more that could be said about this brief but particularly fruitful period in music history. Let’s take a deeper dive, shall we?

What we now refer to as the “Paisley Underground” originated in LA in the early ‘80s, and musically was a mix of psychedelic, pop, garage rock, and punk music. The musicians themselves were united by, to quote Vicki Peterson of the Bangles, “an anachronistic fascination for the music and culture of the 1960s.” I became familiar with this “genre” (I feel I should note that Danny Benair of the Three O’ Clock insists it was a scene and NOT a genre) because of my love of and for The Dream Syndicate. The main bands that (upon discovering they shared certain sensibilities) created this short-lived scene were: the Dream Syndicate, the Bangles (originally called The Bangs until they discovered another band had the same name and changed theirs to avoid legal issues), Rain Parade, the Three O’ Clock (originally Salvation Army – legal issues again forcing a name change), the Long Ryders, and Green on Red.

I haven’t been able to stop listening to an album that Jimmy from the Beat Shop turned me on to called “3 x 4.” The album is a collaboration between four of the original Paisley Underground bands (the Bangles, the Dream Syndicate, the Three O’Clock, and Rain Parade), key members of whom found themselves doing shows together long after they had gone their separate ways, and had an idea for a project that would revisit the music they had created 30 years previously. Each band covers a song from each of the three other bands from back in their Paisley Underground days. The fact that four bands pulled off this collaboration so many years later, and with most of them living separate, busy lives is really astonishing; the project was clearly a labor of love. This is one of those albums that never strays too far from the stereo, where your favorite song changes constantly since they are all wonderful, and on repeated listens continues to feel like there’s ever more to discover. My favorite tracks du jour are the Bangles covering “That’s What You Always Say” (Dream Syndicate), the Three O’ Clock covering “What She’s Done to Your Mind” (Rain Parade), and the Dream Syndicate covering “Hero Takes a Fall” by the Bangles. Steve Wynn shares the back story of “Hero Takes a Fall” in the liner notes, recalling how he discovered that this less-than-flattering song was actually written about him. Surprise! Love that not only did he choose to cover this one but also featured his wife Linda Pitmon and Vicki Peterson on backing vocals. No hard feelings apparently, not to mention delightfully cheeky! Oh, and by the way, it rocks. Susanna Hoffs’ contribution to the booklet is fairly succinct but does mention something about sharing a sleeping bag with a fellow member of the Paisley Underground on a trip to Catalina Island without naming names. Who could it be? Curiosity led me to conduct some quick internet research, and I will just share with you all that apparently it was not any of the members of the Dream Syndicate. Steve Wynn penned an answer song to “Hero,” in case anyone wants to give that a listen, “Baby We All Gotta Go Down.” Anyway, they’re all a little older and wiser at this point, right? Which was surely a factor in them being able to work together to create this fantastic album. One thing that stands out when listening to “3 x 4” is not only the strength of the original songs but how accomplished each of these bands has become. They have all long since graduated “Paisley High, Class of ’83” (Vicki Peterson again) and gone on to have successful careers with their original/reunited bands, related bands, and solo acts, and have continued to grow as musicians. I, for one, am grateful they chose to hold their high school reunion by recording this gem of an album.

Steve is not alone in expressing his admiration for the Bangles in the liner notes of this album, describing them as “…the most musically accomplished, searing as well as unrelenting garage practitioners of all the Paisley bands.” If your knowledge of Bangles’ songs is limited to “Walk Like an Egyptian,” check out their first album, “All Over the Place.” Not that I don’t like their hits – I do- but the band has more substance and bite than may have been obvious to some at the time.

If you’re a fan of the Paisley Underground, you likely are already familiar with Rain Parade’s “Emergency Third Rail Power Trip.” A classic of the genre (my apologies to Danny) from start to finish, this is well worth a listen whether you’re pulling out your well-worn original copy or streaming it for the first time. I’m surely not the only person who feels this way, as evidenced by a double LP reissue this past Record Store Day. And yes, I did manage to pick myself up a copy.

Any fan of this time period and/or Dream Syndicate will be familiar with the band’s first album, “Days of Wine and Roses.” If you’re not for some reason, you should probably rectify this significant void in your music collection immediately. When most of the band reunited many years later, they discovered they still loved the music and liked each other. Add Jason Victor to the mix (who confessed to Steve Wynn from behind the record store counter that he was a fan and asked him if he wanted to jam – thankfully Steve said yes) and you have a band that wouldn’t even think about resting on their laurels. Rather, they continue to push boundaries, write great songs, and wow audiences with jaw-dropping live performances. The band has released four albums of new material since 2017, in addition to several reissues and a live album/DVD, and (to their fans’ great delight) shows no sign of slowing down. If you were a Dream Syndicate fan back in the day but let them fall off your radar, check out what they’ve been up to lately. Heads up that Steve Wynn also has a solo album and a book coming out in the next couple of months. I will surely have more to share about that soon.

Thanks to Jimmy Barrett for turning me on to “3 x 4.” Probably many of you music fiends out there are regulars at the store, but if you haven’t been in a while, go visit Jimmy at the Beat Shop. You’ll never know what you might find there and where it could lead you.

More from Tara Dee…