The Brian Jonestown Massacre | |
---|---|
The Brian Jonestown Massacre performing live at Shepherd's Bush Empire, London in 2012
|
|
Background information | |
Origin | San Francisco, California, U.S. |
Genres | |
Years active | 1990 | –present
Labels | |
Associated acts | |
Website | brianjonestownmassacre |
Members |
|
Past members | See former members list |
The Brian Jonestown Massacre is an American psychedelic rock band formed in San Francisco in 1990 and led by frontman Anton Newcombe. The band began as a shoegaze group in San Francisco in 1990. Following their debut album, the group quickly turned to a broader style of psychedelic rock, incorporating styles such as garage rock, folk rock and, later, electronica into their sound.
The band was the subject of the 2004 documentary film Dig!, and have gained media notoriety for their tumultuous working relationships and the drug use of their leader Anton Newcombe.
The name "Brian Jonestown Massacre" is a portmanteau of The Rolling Stones' founder and guitarist Brian Jones and the infamous mass cult suicide in Jonestown, Guyana. The Brian Jonestown Massacre's debut album, Spacegirl and Other Favorites was a vinyl only release in 1993 with a limited run of 500 copies. The album includes the song "Hide and Seek", the only single released from the album in 1994. The band's follow-up album, Methodrone, was heavily influenced by the shoegaze genre that had gained prominence several years prior to its release. The album's dreamy rock sound is comparable to bands such as Galaxie 500, Spacemen 3 and My Bloody Valentine. Two tracks from the album, "She Made Me" and "Evergreen", had been released as a double A-side single in 1992.
The band went through an intense period of recording in 1996, releasing three separate albums. Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request reflects a pastiche of 1960s psychedelia that continues to characterize the present Brian Jonestown Massacre sound. The album also includes vast experimentation with a variety of different instrumentation including Indian drones, sitars, mellotrons, farfisas, didgeridoos, tablas, congas, and glockenspiels. The title of the album is a pastiche of The Rolling Stones' 1967 album Their Satanic Majesties Request.