In 1980s Los Angeles, in the shadow of the dream factory, two introverted souls found each other, both equally fond of the sound of the sixties and of darkness. Without Californian brooding, their bands' prospect of solitude would sound less comforting — and Lana Del Rey wouldn't have sung her farewell to old Hollywood in such a pleasantly noir way. Musikexpress has now gone through Mazzy Star's entire discography and ranked it from the debut She Hangs Brightly to Seasons Of Your Day. Musikexpress ↗
For the debut, it warns of one trap: don't be misled by the poppy, jangly opening track Halah. Even that enchanting song is in fact morbid to the bone, and She Hangs Brightly can safely be described as the band's rock and blues album. On it, Mazzy Star cover Slapp Happy's Blue Flower as well as blues singer Memphis Minnie, and on Taste Of Blood they really do sound a bit like the early Rolling Stones, who were Hope Sandoval's idols. Musikexpress ↗
Ghost Highway, the only track still dating from the band's Opal days, undeniably steals from The Doors' My Eyes Have Seen You according to the reviewer, even though the title recalls Gun Club's Ghost On The Highway. Gun Club, with their wild country-punk fusion, belonged to a different scene, but as a vague notion they haunt these dark desert night songs all the same. Musikexpress ↗
For a listener who knows the band only through Fade Into You, it's a useful reminder that this one hit rests on a catalog that is far rougher and bluesier than the song alone would suggest.
Illustrative photo: Mazzy Star performing live. Photo: Paul Hudson / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
Mazzy Star from She Hangs Brightly to Seasons Of Your Day: a discography guide
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