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, Rovi