Pullin’ ‘Tubes | Mazzy Star Returns With California

Over the last decade-plus, music fans have been able to check off a number of bands from their proverbial bucket list that they never thought would reform to record or tour. You can add Mazzy Star to a list that includes the like of indie-darlings Pavement, cult favorites The Replacements and mega-stars The Police. Formed in the late ’80s with roots in Los Angeles’s Paisley Underground scene, the band, consisting primarily of the core-duo of Hope Sandoval and David Roback, were known for their hazy acid-drenched brand of shoegaze.

The band broke through to the mainstream in 1994, nearly a year after the release of their sophomore effort, So Tonight That I Might See, thanks in part to the unexpected success of that record’s lead track -“Fade Into You.” The gorgeous acid-country track peaked at #44 on the Billboard charts, with its black and white video finding its way into heavy rotation on both MTV and VH1. After releasing and touring behind their third record, Among My Swan, Sandoval and Roback parted ways announcing a hiatus, while going on to work with the Jesus and Mary Chain and Beth Orton respectively.

After flirting with a mini-reunion in 2000, Mazzy Star officially returned to the recording studio to release a double-A-side single in 2011, with the promise that a full album was in the works. Now, some two years later, the band has lived up to that statement with release of their first new record in 17 years, Seasons Of Your Day -a ten-track collection of dreamy psychedelic-folk.

Let’s check out the video for the record’s lead single -“California”:

Written By: Jeffrey Greenblatt