I’ve already written about my excitement for the Jesus and Mary Chain reunion gig happening at Coachella, but recently, the lads have announced that they will do a few more gigs in Spain and there’s a looming possibility that there will be another album. Their final gig nearly nine years ago was disastrous, yet so fitting for a band comprised of two brothers with a penchant for sibling rivalry.
JAMC pierced the music world in the eighties. Picking and pulling equally from the Velvet Underground and girl groups like the Shangri-Las, JAMC tortured the conventions of pop music with a swirling atmosphere of heavy distortion, simple drums, and an arrogance and swagger that had sorely been missing from rock and roll. They weren’t just loud noises. Hidden under the feedback, luscious pop melodies melted like a piece of hard candy, drenching your palette with unmistakable, unforget sweetness. This duality of aural fusion tiptoes into a virgin part of the inner ear, before trampling into your brain with a loud sound that burst apart every nerve, leaving the listener in a state of confusion before taking them into a smooth sea of ecstasy. This unique sound would define the band’s career. Their entire back catalog swells with the weight of heavy guitars and delicious pop sensibility.