1990–1996: early years The collective was founded by Anton Newcombe in San Francisco between 1990 and 1993. Their first albums were compilations of recording sessions and an early demo tape, titled ''Pol Pot's Pleasure Penthouse''. This release became a popular bootleg. The band recorded
Spacegirl and Other Favorites in 1993, compiled from what Newcombe called his "studio trash". The album includes "Hide and Seek", which was released as a single in 1994. The band's debut album,
Methodrone, was released in 1995 and developed largely out of the concepts explored on
Spacegirl. It was heavily influenced by the
shoegaze genre that had gained prominence several years prior to its release, and the album's ethereal 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," were released as a double
A-side single in 1992.
Methodrone was recorded primarily at a studio in the Hunter's Point region of San Francisco called The Compound, where
Naut Humon provided an environment for Newcombe to record for hours on end. The band released
Spacegirl and Other Favorites later in 1995, with a limited pressing of 500 vinyl copies. Over the next couple of years, the band shifted its sound from their more shoegaze, goth, and dream pop influences of the '80s and '90s into a '60s retro-futurist aesthetic. As lineup changes persisted, the band continued to record and in 1996 released three full-length studio albums. The first of these,
Take It from the Man!, is rooted heavily in the maximum
rhythm and blues aesthetic of the 1960s British Invasion. The album includes the song "Straight Up and Down," which was later used as
theme music for the
HBO television drama series
Boardwalk Empire (201014), and was engineered by
Larry Thrasher of the influential group
Psychic TV. The second of the band's 1996 album releases, ''
Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request'', reflects a pastiche of 1960s
psychedelia. 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 play on words of the Rolling Stones' 1967 album
Their Satanic Majesties Request. The third and final album released that year was
Thank God for Mental Illness, a more stripped-down effort. Since the band did not have a drummer at the time, Newcombe took the opportunity to showcase more of his acoustic songwriting. The album explores more in-depth genres such as
country and
folk. At the end of the album Newcombe included an entire EP called
Sound of Confusion, compiled largely from earlier BJM recordings.
Sound of Confusion features both regular songs and more abstract sound collages.
1997–1998: Give It Back!, signing to TVT and Strung Out in Heaven The Brian Jonestown Massacre recorded their sixth album,
Give It Back!, in 1997 after relocating to Los Angeles from San Francisco. The album was tracked in a few short days leading up to the band's first US tour and includes the track, "Not If You Were the Last Dandy on Earth", a sardonic reply to
The Dandy Warhols' single "
Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth", which had been perceived at the time as being directed at the BJM. "Not If You Were the Last Dandy on Earth" was featured on the soundtrack to
Jim Jarmusch's 2005 film
Broken Flowers. During this time, the BJM signed with
TVT Records. In 2005, the band released the
EP We Are the Radio on Newcombe's own label, The committee to Keep Music Evil, which features a close collaboration with
independent singer-songwriter
Sarabeth Tucek. This was the last BJM record to be recorded in the United States, as shortly after this Newcombe relocated to Europe.
2008–2018: experimental music The Brian Jonestown Massacre released their tenth studio album,
My Bloody Underground, in 2008 on A Records. The album is directly inspired by the music made by bands
My Bloody Valentine and
The Velvet Underground. The record contains a highly experimental approach, and was recorded in collaboration with
Mark Gardener, formerly of
Ride, who co-wrote the song "Monkey Powder". The Brian Jonestown Massacre recorded both of their next releases in
Iceland and
Berlin. An
EP entitled
One was released in November 2009 and featured the tracks "One", "This Is the First of Your Last Warning" (which also appears on their next album,
Who Killed Sgt. Pepper?), an English version of "This Is The First of Your Last Warning", and then exclusive track, "Bruttermania".
Who Killed Sgt. Pepper?, the band's eleventh studio album, was released in February 2010. It featured musicians Unnur Andrea Einarsdottir (who recorded vocals on
My Bloody Underground), Felix Bondareff from the Russian band Amazing Electronic Talking Cave, as well as the musician
Will Carruthers. Soon after the album's release, it was confirmed that
Matt Hollywood had returned to the band after an eleven-year absence. According to Newcombe, he would feature on the band's next album and also toured with the band. Stylistically, the album mixes the traditional Brian Jonestown Massacre sound with Eastern influences. Their next album,
Musique de Film Imaginé, was released on April 27, 2015. The album was conceived as a soundtrack for an imaginary French film, and pays homage to European film directors of the late 1950s and 1960s such as
François Truffaut and
Jean-Luc Godard. It was recorded in Berlin in August 2014. This was followed in November 2015 by the EP
Mini Album Thingy Wingy. In October 2016, the band released the album
Third World Pyramid, which was preceded by the single "The Sun Ship". A few months later, in February 2017, ''Don't Get Lost'', was released having been preceded by seven singles. In June 2018, their 17th studio album,
Something Else, was released.
2019–present: recent activity In March 2019, the band released
a self-titled album. In March 2022, the band announced that two albums, ''Fire Doesn't Grow on Trees
and The Future Is Your Past'', were scheduled to be released in June and October 2022 respectively. The former was released in June 2022, the latter had a delayed release and instead came out in February 2023. The band spent the majority of 2023 on tour around the world. On November 21, 2023, in the middle of their show at the
Forum Theatre in
Melbourne, an onstage brawl was sparked between Newcombe and guitarist Ryan Van Kriedt in which Newcombe hit Van Kriedt over the head with a guitar. The remainder of their Australian tour was canceled the next day. Newcombe did not comment on the incident until a November 2024 interview in which he explained: In February 2024,
Joel Gion published
In the Jingle Jangle Jungle, a memoir recounting the first ten years of the band. The band have announced a tour of Europe in 2025. ==Name origin==