Combining two albums by any one band years after the initial release dates works on occasion. But when it doesn’t, the results are so blatantly off kilter as to detract from the grandiosity of either effort. And that’s the main problem with pairing Rain Parade’s album Emergency Third Rail Power Trip, from 1983, and the group’s 1984 EP Explosions In the Glass Palace.

The proper album is probably what listeners are out there seeking for – and not to dismiss latter line ups of the group, but counting David Roback as a member was clearly an important part of Rain Parade’s sound. The following EP possesses a good deal of the low key charm inherent on that first effort. Being a tossed off gem, though, is something difficult to achieve. So while the EP might be more proficient at working within the confines of pop song structure, the utter disregard for the same thing works to good effect on Emergency.

As a part of the perceived Paisley Underground, Rain Parade didn’t do too much more commercially than any of its peers (and while the Bangles are often lumped into this cohort, we’ll pretend its not). Roback and company’s first album, though, didn’t make itself a contender in the market, opting for Syd Barrett styled rock numbers as frequently related via the acoustic guitar as not. With all of this hashed out so early in the eighties, it’s surprising that Robacks wasn’t able to find chart success until the mid-nineties with Mazzy Star.

As that Barrett inclusion might suggest the lilting psych stuff spread over Emergency was occasionally met with California sounds since Rain Parade called So Cal home. There’s a bit of the Byrds’ jangly pop on the album opener, “Talking in My Sleep,” as well as “What She's Done to Your Mind?” Neither track sports the most memorable hook, again perhaps accounting for the band being ignored by radio folks.

Even with that dismissal, though, Rain Parade was able to put together one of the stronger albums to spring from the lighter side of underground rock stuff during the eighties down there in So Cal. It would have been interesting to see these guys – or any of the Paisley Underground acts – share a bill with one of the weirder, jazz inflected SST bands. Maybe it happened. Maybe it didn’t. But the dream like state that Rain Parade flaunts on Emergency is just the right place for that kind of wondering.