Focus Mazzy Star

Article by Colin

The early 1990's were an interesting time for alternative music, on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. In Britain, the "Madchester" scene flickered briefly, with revolutionary albums that married dance rhythms with rock structures from the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays, before burning out all too soon, in a storm of violence, bankruptcy and drugs. The "shoegazing" movement, centred primarily on bands from the Thames Valley, provided an interesting new spin on indie music, but was quickly rendered obsolete by My Bloody Valentine's Loveless.

In the USA, R.E.M. proved that an indie band could reach new heights in record sales while still keeping a semblance of musical - and political - integrity. After a decade touring America in relative obscurity, they achieved unprecedented success for an alternative band, firstly with Out Of Time and then with Automatic For The People. Nirvana, encouraged by R.E.M.'s pioneering approach, popularised the "grunge" genre.

Amidst the endless retrospectives on music from this period, one band is often unfairly overlooked: Mazzy Star.

From 1990-96, they had a run of three albums that encapsulated all that was vital about alternative music. Guitarist David Roback and singer Hope Sandoval formed the band out of the ashes Opal, which in turn had come out of the "paisley underground" scene, a mid-80's American alternative rock movement, centred on bands such as The Dream Syndicate, The Long Ryders, R.E.M. and The Rain Parade. Roback had been a member of the latter band, whilst Opal member Kendra Smith (who would soon be replaced by Sandoval) had been in The Dream Syndicate.

Roback and Sandoval, together with their alternative rock contemporaries, drew on different influences from their mainstream counterparts. For these bands - Mazzy Star, Jesus and Mary Chain, Pavement et al - the most important band of the 1960's was not the Beatles, but The Velvet Underground. The sound of The Velvet Underground is obviously apparent on the title track of 1993's So Tonight That I Might See, Mazzy Star's second album. Sandoval has been described as a "Nico for the 90s". Perhaps, but she has none of Nico's harsh, northern-European tones to her voice. Her voice is far softer and more laconic - listen to the cover of "Five String Serenade" by Arthur Lee & Love. On the original, Lee almost pleads and yearns for the listener's attention. But on the Mazzy Star version, Sandoval sounds wearily resigned and distant.

After touring in 1997, to promote the previous year's album, Among My Swan, nothing more was heard of the band. Each went on to collaborate individually with a range of artists, but there time together seemed over. Despite briefly re-uniting for a series of shows in 2000, no new material was released. They last performed together in 2003, at folk-hero Bert Jansch's 60th birthday party. However, their "slowcore" sound went on to influence a number of artists.

Can we expect anymore records from Mazzy Star? A new album is rumoured, but the question remains largely un-answered. The band has been dormant for over a decade, since their final studio album. Sandoval has appeared on several records - most notably with The Chemical Brothers and the forthcoming Massive Attack LP - and formed her own band, Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions (they released "Bavarian Fruit Bread" in 2001, a record that didn’t break from the template established by Mazzy Star). Roback worked on Beth Orton's Central Reservation album, and also dabbled in acting.

Roback is said to be working on new material, but until we see hear anything new from the band, their first three albums are well worth discovering...