Skooshny

Skooshny is an L.A.-based psych-folk-pop trio who originally came together in 1971, a time that singer/guitarist Mark Breyer later said was "too late for the Byrds, too early for R.E.M." Breyer and drummer David Winogrond had been in a Chicago-area trio, Brevity, before moving to L.A. in the early '70s to try their luck on the West Coast. They met guitarist/keyboardist Bruce Wagner after placing an ad in a music publication and he continued to be an on-again/off-again member. Rehearsals proved to be tough to organize, however, as none of the three had a car and relied on public transportation to get around L.A. Perhaps because of this, Skooshny (reportedly the Russian word for "boring") never played live during their first six years of existence (years later, they would make a rare live appearance at an Arthur Lee benefit gig). They did, however, record a handful of paisley-tinged jangle rock songs and in 1978, issued their first recordings, a four-song EP, on their own Alien label (they also backed glam-punk singer Page Croft on his Dragons EP for Alien). Its relative success led to them issuing a single, but the band was chuffed at the underwhelming lack of major-label interest and decided to call it a day in 1979. Like the Green Pajamas, one could also say they went on an extended "hiatus." A few years later, a mid-'80s revival of jangle pop -- including the bands in L.A.'s paisley underground movement, all of whom had been inspired by '60s folk-rock bands like the Byrds and Arthur Lee's Love -- led to Skooshny reuniting. They demoed tracks into the early '80s, including a handful with Michael Penn, who produced the band at his home studio. Although the band continued to occasionally play together, the group never quite managed to gel and the bandmembers moved on to...