Acetone existed for most of the ’90s, making a spare, lonesome style of twangy psych-rock that sounded like the California desert at dusk. The band put out a few great records on Neil Young’s Vapor Records and Virgin imprint Vernon Yard, and toured with Mazzy Star, Oasis, The Verve and Spiritualized, but never really gained more than a cult following. Sadly, Acetone came to an end when bassist and singer Richie Lee died by suicide in 2001. The band’s output has been out of print since the ’00s — Light in the Attic put together an underwhelming “best-of” a few years back — but is getting a much-deservedreissue campaign by New West Records, including a comprehensive box set titledI’m still waiting which will be out November 17 and celebrates the 30th anniversary of the band.Pre-orders are available.

“It’s amazing to me how much love there is for Acetone out in the world, especially considering how few records we actually sold at the time,” says guitarist Mark Lightcap. “That love, unrequited as the catalog moldered in record company vaults, has now been fully consummated in the form of this box set. Infinite gratitude to New West for pulling out all the stops on this project. Records that were squeezed onto one disc in the vinyl-as-an-afterthought 90s have all mushroomed into doubles, and I can truthfully say that it’s like hearing them for the first time. With really beautiful liner notes by our pals Drew Daniel and Jason Pierce, and a bonus LP of personal favorite, unreleased recordings from the band’s own vault, this thing is the mother lode for Acetone fans. Salut!”

Says Hope Sandoval: “Acetone’s music is like a film. You put it on and start to watch the beautiful cinematography that plays in your mind and listen to the lovely stories in their harmonies and lyrics. So glad to know this great music.”

In addition to their studio albums and EPs, which have all been remastered, the box set contains an album’s worth of demos and other unreleased rarities, as well as a booklet featuring new essays on the band by J Spaceman of Spiritualized and Drew Daniel of Matmos, plus rare photos and other artifacts. You can listen to one of those rarities, a demo of “No Need to Swim” which would end up on their 1993 albumCindy. “A very early demo, recorded in Steve’s pool house circa ’91 before we’d even settled on a name for our band,” says Lightcap. “This was one of the first batch of recordings we sent out in search of a record deal, and a clear indicator that we were destined to be the next big thing. Believe it or not, this track is a direct transfer from the actual cassette that got us signed to Vernon Yard. It was graciously returned by (label head) Keith Wood in 2022, and it also happens to be the best surviving version of these recordings.” Check that out, along with the boxset tracklist and artwork, below.

In addition to the box set, New West is releasingstandalone reissues ofCindy (1993), If You Only Knew (1995),Acetone (1997), andYork Blvd (2000).

ACETONE – I’M STILL WAITING

Acetone EP Track Listing:
1. I’m Gone
2. For A Few Dollars More
3. D.F.B
4. Cindy

Cindy Track Listing:
1. Come On
2. Pinch
3. Sundown
4. Chills
5. Endless Summer
6. Louise
7. Don’t Cry
8. No Need Swim
9. Barefoot On Sunday

I Guess I Would Track Listing:
1. Juanita
2. The Late John Garfield Blues
3. I Guess I Would
4. Sometimes You Just Can’t Win
5. All For The Love Of A Girl
6. How Sweet I Roamed
7. Border Lord

If You Only Knew Track Listing:
1. If You Only Knew
2. I Don’t Really Care
3. In The Light
4. I’ve Enjoyed As Much Of This As I Can Stand
5. The Final Say
6. When You’re Gone
7. Hound Dog
8. 99
9. What I See
10. Nothing At All
11. Esque
12. Always Late

Acetone Track Listing:
1. Every Kiss
2. All The Time
3. Germs
4. Might As Well
5. Shobud
6. All You Know
7. Good Life
8. Dee
9. Waltz
10. Another Minute
11. So Slow
12. Chew

York Blvd. Track Listing:
1. Things Are Gonna Be Alright
2. Wonderful World
3. 19
4. Vibrato
5. Like I Told Yoou
6. It’s A Lie
7. Bonds
8. One Drop
9. Vaccination
10. Stray

Prime Cuts Track Listing:
1. O.I.E (If You Only Knew outtake)
2. Shaker (York Blvd. outtake) *
3. Nobody Home (demo) *
4. Vibrato (demo) *
5. Nothing At All (live on CJAM 99.1 FM) *
6. No Need Swim (demo) *
7. Cindy (live at the Lizard Lounge, Cambridge, Massachusetts, May 30, 1998) *
8. York Blvd. (rehearsal tape) *
9. She Belongs To Me (rehearsal tape) *

* previously unreleased