Rain Parade
Emergency Third Rail Power Trip
deluxe reissue, with “Surprise, Surprise (Bubba O’Riley Remix)”/”Bee and His Buzz”
Label 51 Recordings
Recent visitors to Emergency Third Rail Power Trip may have missed signs saying “Please excuse the mess.” Under reconstruction for some time now, the updated exhibit of Rain Parade’s mesmerizing 1983 debut album – a watershed moment in Paisley Underground lore – is done, its freshly washed original tracks emerging from a soapy remastering bath cleaned and warmed. The sonic differences are palpable, pulling more details out of hiding than were present and accounted for initially.
Reissued in a well-curated, 2-CD deluxe set with a closetful of curious bonus material, Emergency Third Rail Power Trip is sanded smooth and carefully laundered in such a way as to both soften and clarify its murky mélange of ‘60s British and Doors-style psychedelia, Creation Records’ dreamy dizziness and drone, and West Coast acid-laced folk jangle. The pleasant buzz, hypnotic shake, and radiating sitar of “This Can’t Be Today,” always a rolling, gently whirring journey to nowhere, becomes even more blissful, while the swinging “1 Hour ½ Ago” swan dives into a rippling, fanned-out pool of hallucinogenic colors that’s clearer and not as hazy, the sweeping ballad “Carolyn’s Song” drifts off into somnambulant lucidity, and the narcotic effects of the heavy-lidded “Look at Merri” and an equally slow-moving “Kaleidoscope” are somehow stronger and more soothing.
Enlightenment comes in the perfectly formed “Saturday’s Asylum” and “What’s She Done to Your Mind,” where the influence of The Byrds is impossible to deny and guitars sparkle like diamonds. The latter is more tightly and simply constructed, easily accessible and immediately gratifying, whereas the former casually spins and splashes in captivating, misty beauty before devolving into chaotic, circus-like pomp and circumstance. And then there’s the trippy, garage-rock swagger of “Look Both Ways” throwing everyone off the scent by adopting the harmonica honk and herky-jerky groove of early Rolling Stones R&B bashes. This, too, comes in hotter than it did at first blush.
Of the 13 additional tracks, snowy demos of “What You’ve Done” – with its lovely spare atmosphere – and a more languid, humming “Look at Merri” seem to float about without a care in the world. The single version of “What’s She Done to Your Mind” catches its prey with greater earworm deceit and polish, while live thrills excite and enthrall, as rough concert recordings of “Saturday’s Asylum,” “First of September,” “Paper Girl,” “Speedway,” “No Good Trying,” and “Unexpected” bloom like bloody roses with thorny hooks. Meanwhile, the 4-track engravings of “This Can’t Be Today” and “I Look Around” have a sharper edge, as a similarly sketched “Look Both Ways” is livelier and more agile than its not-so-distant cousin.
Stuffed with photos and engrossing liner notes, the newly re-packaged Emergency Third Rail Power Trip paints Rain Parade as both reverential revivalists and creative alchemists in search of their own aesthetic, all the while miserably lovelorn and psychologically tortured but open to having a little fun. Leaving the past behind, they are releasing a new digital single comprising the jazzy, Neil Young-inspired jam of “Bee and His Buzz” – think “Cortez the Killer” on quaaludes – and the breezy, sophisticated classic pop of “Surprise, Surprise (Bubba O’Riley Remix),” complete with summery horns. The forecast calls for a new album in 2025 and renewed interest in Rain Parade.
