This prolific yet luckless American retro-psychedelic band are led by the provocative Anton Newcombe (guitar/vocals), and named after the Rolling Stones' dead guitarist and the 1978 mass suicide in Jonestown, Guyana. Formed in Newcombe's home town of San Francisco, California, USA in 1990, other key members of the band have included Matt Hollywood (bass) and Joel Gion (tambourine and self-styled "Spokesman For The Revolution"). Highly prolific, they released several albums of original material in only three years on Newcombe's own Tangible label, with distribution through 60s specialists Bomp Records.
Newcombe's musical vision is based on replicating the successive musical phases of the Rolling Stones, paying particular interest to 1967's psychedelic rock era. Following two earlier singles, the line-up of Newcombe, Hollywood, Gion, Dean Taylor (guitar), Mara Regal (organ), Dawn Thomas (accordion) and Brian Glaze (drums) released Methodrone in August 1995. Despite an affinity with the spaced out drone rock of more contemporary bands such as Spaceman 3 and My Bloody Valentine, the retro distorted fuzz guitars rooted the band firmly in the mid- to late 60s. A compilation of earlier recordings preceded the minor classic Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request, arguably a more coherent take on psychedelic rock than the Rolling Stones album from which the title was taken. Take It From The Man! followed in June, and from the Union Jack on the cover to the music within gloriously revived mid-60s UK R&B as it mutated into rock. Standout tracks included "(David Bowie I Love You) Since I Was Six" and "Straight Up And Down". In the liner notes to the album, Newcombe recounted how the ghost of Brian Jones came to him in the studio and asked him to make the record. The low budget (allegedly $17.36) Thank God For Mental Illness was released in October. An all-acoustic recording, the reference points this time were the country blues of earlier-period Stones. Despite support slots with Mercury Rev, Oasis (on their first US tour) and Sonic Boom, the band's chaotic, occasionally violent live shows (often triggered by Gion's full blown rants and Newcombe's penchant for attacking his bandmates) precluded any immediate major label link-up.
Newcombe, Hollywood, Gion, Taylor, Jeff Davies (guitar), Peter Hayes (guitar) and Brad Artley (drums) recorded 1997's Give It Back!, which produced further classic tracks including "Not If You Were The Last Dandy On Earth" (a nod to associates the Dandy Warhols) and "This Is Why You Love Me'. Newcombe also launched another label, The Committee To Keep Music Evil. After signing with TVT Records, the band reverted to full-blown psychedelic rock on June 1998"s Strung Out In Heaven. Mixing new songs with reworkings of previously released material, the album's relatively focused production came as something of a shock to fans of their earlier recordings. The independently released EP (Bringing It All Back Home - Again) featured a track co-written by Newcombe and Charles Manson. Ondi Timoner's independently produced film about the Brian Jonestown Massacre and the Dandy Warhols, Dig!, won the Grand Dury Documentary Prize at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.
DISCOGRAPHY: Methodrone (Asphodel/Bomp 1995)***, Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request (Tangible/Bomp 1996)***, Take It From The Man! (Tangible/Bomp 1996)****, Thank God For Mental Illness (Tangible/Bomp 1996)***, Give It Back! (Tangible/Bomp 1997)***, Strung Out In Heaven (TVT 1998)***, (Bringing It All Back Home - Again) mini-album (Tangible/Which? 1999)***, Bravery Repetition And Noise (The Committee To Keep Music Evil/Bomp 2001)***, ... And This Is Our Music (Tee Pee 2003)***, My Bloody Underground (A 2008)***.
COMPILATIONS: Space Girl And Other Favorites (Tangible 1996)**, Tepid Peppermint Wonderland: A Retrospective (Tee Pee 2004)****.
FILMOGRAPHY: Dig! (2004).
Encyclopedia of Popular Music
Copyright 2008 by Muze Inc.; all rights reserved.
