

The Jesus and Mary Chain


  1. 1.
    Just Like Honey
  2. 2.
    April Skies
  3. 3.
    Head On
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
    Happy When It Rains
In late 1984, the band issued its seminal debut single, "Upside Down," a remarkable blast of live-wire feedback anchored by a caveman-like drumbeat; the record made the JMC an overnight sensation in the U.K., as did their nascent live shows, 20-minute sets of confrontational noise (performed with the bandmembers' backs to the audience) which frequently ended in rioting. The follow-up, "You Trip Me Up," further perfected the formula, and led to their 1985 debut LP Psychocandy, which gift-wrapped sweet, simple pop songs in ribbons of droning guitar fuzz. After a two-year layoff (during which time Gillespie exited to form Primal Scream and was replaced by John Moore), the Jesus and Mary Chain returned with Darklands, a dramatic shift in approach that stripped away the feedback to expose the skeletal guitar pop at the music's core. After a sprawling 1988 collection of singles, B-sides, and demos titled Barbed Wire Kisses, they emerged with Automatic, which introduced a more tightly coiled brand of feedback while jettisoning Moore's live drums in favor of synthesized beats.
Eight years later, the Reid brothers, joined by Mark Crozer, Phil King (Lush), and Loz Colbert (Ride), revived the band to perform at the Coachella and Meltdown festivals. The new recording "All Things Must Pass" appeared on the 2008 soundtrack for the television series Heroes. A four-disc box set, The Power of Negative Thinking: B-Sides and Rarities, was released the same year, trailed by expanded reissues of their 1985-1998 studio albums. Performances resumed in 2012, with Brian Young (Fountains of Wayne) in place of Colbert. The band later played several dates across Europe and the U.S. that involved the performance of Psychocandy in its entirety, a celebration of the album's 30th anniversary. A Glasgow gig was documented in box set form as Live at Barrowlands.
The success of the touring must have eased the tensions between the brothers, because in 2015 they entered the studio to begin working on a new album. Comprising songs newly written and culled from the years after their breakup, Damage and Joy was produced by Youth and featured guest vocals by their sister Linda, Isobel Campbell, and Sky Ferreira. The album was released in early 2017 by their own Artificial Plastic label. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi


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