* En anglais uniquement
Performing lilting pop/rock with strong U.K. '60s influences, neo-psychedelic band
the Green Pajamas were founded in Seattle in 1984 by
Jeff Kelly and
Joe Ross. A lifelong music fan,
Kelly began composing his first songs at the age of 11, forming a group called the Electric Garbage Cans; his parents purchased him a reel-to-reel tape recorder, and he spent his teenage years compiling literally hundreds of cassettes of original material. After graduating from college,
Kelly briefly joined a new wave band dubbed the Larch; he met
Ross at a party and the two formed
the Green Pajamas, informed by their mutual love of
the Beatles and inspired by the Los Angeles "paisley underground" community.
The group debuted in 1984 with the cassette
Summer of Lust on the Green Monkey label, and issued a flurry of tapes before recording their proper full-length debut,
Book of Hours, in 1987. After 1990's
Ghosts of Love,
the Green Pajamas went on hiatus, and
Kelly issued the solo LP Coffee in Nepal in 1991; finally, in 1997 the band resurfaced with Doctor Dragonfly as well as Indian Winter, a compilation of singles and compilation tracks.
All Clues Lead to Meagan's Bed followed in 1999 and
Seven Fathoms Down and Falling arrived in 2000.
The following year
the Green Pajamas released the
In a Glass Darkly EP, which was inspired by J.S. Le Fanu's writing, as well as the full-length
This Is Where We Disappear. A mishmash of discarded singles and outtakes,
Narcotic Kisses was released in 2002 along with a full-length album,
Northern Gothic. The band celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2004, commemorating the event with a 14-track retrospective disc,
Through Glass Colored Roses, and a live in-studio album, Ten White Stones. Another full-length studio effort, the unabashedly psychedelic
21st Century Séance, was released the following year.
In 2006, the band released yet another compilation disc,
Night Races into Anna, followed by a companion piece to
Northern Gothic, 2007's
Box of Secrets: Northern Gothic Season Two. The all-new conceptual piece Poison in the Russian Room dropped in 2009. For their next project,
the Green Pajamas penned a set of songs about drinking and heartache with a slight rootsy feel, released in 2011 as
Green Pajamas Country! They were back in dark but more musically familiar territory with 2012's
Death by Misadventure. Nautical themes dominated 2012's
To the End of the Sea, and the collection Supernatural Afternoon, which brought together rare single sides and unreleased material, followed in 2017. The prolific band delivered another installment in the
Northern Gothic series,
Phantom Lake: Northern Gothic 3, in 2018. ~ Jason Ankeny