My Top 2000 Songs #1027: No Easy Way Down

Rain Parade's 1983 debut, Emergency Third Rail Power Trip, remains one of my all-time faves, 60s Byrds-y psychedelia updated for the 80s college radio jangle pop scene, and thus seemed pretty hard to top. Especially after co-founder David Roback left the band, first for Opal and later for the more commercially successful Mazzy Star.

Yet 1984's follow-up EP, Explosions In The Glass Palace, came surprisingly close (albeit at half the length). "You Are My Friend" and "Blue" are both pretty, jangly tunes that would have fit in comfortably on the original LP (indeed, the initial CD issue merged Emergency and Glass and sounds like one extended-length album). But I really dig EP closer "No Easy Way Down," when the band finally go all in on their psychedelic revivalism. It's a spacy, jammed-out track, seven minutes of lysergic bliss that seems designed for a late night with headphones, or as a banging' set-closer for their live shows. (I believe it's written by David Roback, which would explain its trippier psychedelic tone, in contrast to the more straightforward pop favored by his brother Steven and bandmate Matt Piucci on their tracks.)

Live (after interview):

...and live 2 years ago (hey, I was at this show!):