The Jesus & Mary Chain were a band who excited me and scared me. I still recall the thrill of their early John Peel sessions - the buzz of the feedback, the ever so slightly offensive name (at least for a good Christian boy like me - it helped that it didn't actually mean anything), combined with press reports of 30 minute sets of white noise and rioting.
I'm not going to say they changed the way I saw music - I probably went to see Chris Rea live about the time Psychocandy was released, I certainly looked forward to the two Cocteau Twins EP's released that month more, and my other purchase in November 1985 - Suzanne Vega's eponymous first album - was arguably more influential on my musical tastes.
But I drink my coffee from a Psychocandy coffee mug, and - along with Rattlesnakes, Doolittle, Treasure and If I Should Fall From Grace With God - rate it as one of my favourite albums from the 1980's.
I don't go along with Gary Mulholland's opinion that it hasn't dated well (though I agree with him that Barbed Wire Kisses is probably a better listen). Sure, it's surprisingly tuneful, the feedback isn't as overpowering as you remember, and maybe there's nothing there that the Ramones hadn't done 10 years earlier. Doesn't stop it being brilliant.
I've also enjoyed my share of 80's reunion gigs - especially the Pogues & Pixies.
So it was with a mixture of excitement and uncertainty that I heard they were reforming to play at Coachella. I'd actually gone as far as buying the Sister Vanilla single with Jim Reid accompanying their little sister last year. But now with the Sister Vanilla album weeks away from officially being available, with both Reid boys in attendance, and maybe the possibility of the reunion lasting more than one gig (they've already announced one UK date - in the West of Scotland, in the town where I spent most of my childhood holidays, on the day I get back from holiday), I have to admit excitement. The B side of the Sister Vanilla single has been re-released (re-recorded? I'm not sure), and I'm realising that Can't Stop the Rock is one track I should not have dropped from my best-of compilation last year. "an unplugged JAMC on a Sunday morning with a girl singer that's a bit stoned" (Guardian), “What would a Jesus and Mary Chain album sung by their kid sister sound like?”(Times). Have to agree with them. This is classic Mary Chain - though the female vocal also reminds me of the C86 sound of The Pastels and the Shop Assistants.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I agree with you that Mr Mulholland was perhaps a bit harsh with regard to Psychocandy - after all, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club based an entire career around one song, The Living End.
Psychocandy has lost some of its shock value, but as you say, the songs stand up well and are surprisingly catchy. I enjoyed Darklands as much as the first LP, but it ws diminishing returns thereafter, aside from Sometimes Always, which I still play a lot.
Post a Comment