Starlight Cleaning Co. is a Mojave Desert band fronted by Rachel Dean and Tim Paul Gray. Their
paths were interwoven for nearly a decade before formally meeting in May of 2015, when they
played a show together at Pappy and Harriet’s in Pioneertown, CA. Rachel had previously played
under her own name, having released an album titled Indian Summer, produced by Rob Campanella
(Brian Jonestown Massacre) and the late, great Neal Casal (Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Ryan
Adams). Rachel also fronted two bands prior – War Children and The Hot Fudge Sunday (Pappy
and Harriet’s Sunday house band). Tim fronted Orange County based bands The Delusions and
Charles Mansion. As a duo, Rachel and Tim have toured with Tommy Stinson (The Replacements,
Bash And Pop, Guns ‘n’ Roses) and on their own, throughout the country.
Two years ago, Rachel and Tim did something they had wanted to do for a while – they turned their
solo act into a full band, Starlight Cleaning Co. Featuring Tim's timeless songwriting and Rachel's
versatile vocals, Starlight Cleaning Co. is an operation that somehow sounds like they could have
thrived in both the 1970s/1980s and the 2010s/2020s. Drawing inspiration from Elvis Costello,
Chrissie Hynde, Alex Chilton and Dwight Twilley as well as girl groups from the 1960s, and late
1970s/early 1980s punk and power pop; Starlight Cleaning Co.'s male/female fronted dynamic is
pure, soulful, and beautifully focused.
Somewhat recently, Starlight Cleaning Co. brought a crew out to the High Desert to hole up for a
week and record an album. The songs were tracked at Rachel and Tim’s home studio, Starlight
Sound, where Vetiver recorded their 2019 record Up On High. Their recording crew comprised the
LA/SF blue-eyed-soul and soft rock troubadour, Bart Davenport (The Bedazzled, The Loved Ones,
The Kinetics) and LA's "indie king" Joel Jerome (Dios, Cherry Glazerr, La Sera). Bart, acting as
producer and Joel as engineer, worked with Starlight Cleaning Co. to create a powerful and sincere
record. There are even some special guitar solos from their recently departed friend and mentor,
Neal Casal.
After mixing and mastering, the end result is an ageless album that swirls cosmic Americana of the
High Desert with shimmering power pop and forward-thinking indie songcraft. Starlight Cleaning
Co.’s songs are laced with barbed melodic hooks that dig deeper into your heartstrings with
repeated listens. Rachel and Tim’s voices tower over these tunes with an uncanny chemistry – she
sings in a soaring perfect pitch, belted straight from the heart and performed with a natural fervor
that could single handedly bring back the power ballad. Tim is an authentic pop crooner whose
timbre balances zeal and verve, trimmed with a touch of twang. Together in harmony, they recall the
great male-female duos of the 20th century, such as Buckingham-Nicks, Sonny & Cher, Gram and
Emmylou, John Doe & Exene. Their record will be out in 2021.