Go to any of the numerous dance clubs featuring ’80s rock and you’ll most likely hear plenty of tunes by the likes of Depeche Mode, the Cure, Duran Duran, the Psychedelic Furs and Simple Minds. If you’re lucky, you just might hear a song by the Jesus and Mary Chain, arguably the best and most under-appreciated alternative band to emerge out of that era.
Thanks to the good folks at Rhino Records, the Jesus and Mary Chain’s first five albums have been re-released in dual disc form with upgraded sound, a 5.1 surround sound option and bonus music videos. With any luck, a whole new generation of rock fans will discover the magic of this essential and trailblazing unit.
The not-ready-for-prime-time band formed in East Kilbride, Scotland in 1984. Unlike its more popular Scottish contemporaries Simple Minds, the Jesus and Mary Chain wasn’t particularly dance oriented or easily digestible in the standard KROQ radio kind of way.
At a time when MTV had a powerful influence in shaping popular culture, the band members weren’t considered teen dream fops like Duran Duran, nor did they register any significant hit singles in the United States.
Led by sibling guitarist and vocalists Jim and William Reid, the Jesus and Mary Chain was almost anti-image in the sense that its members never spoke on stage. Instead they chose to maintain a rather mysterious profile. Attired in black with messy, bird nest hairstyles, the group preferred to play in shrouds of smoke on dimly lit stages. This was a band that let its music do the talking, as it should be.
The Jesus and Mary Chain’s first album, 1985’s “Psycho-candy,” is a revelation. Some pretty pop melodies are ironically buried in layers of dense feedback and guitar distortion. Unfortunately, this CD does not come with a lyric sheet because the muddy vocals tend to be mixed beneath the artsy noise that’s stacked on top. The band’s approach on this album owes a debt to the transcendent music the Velvet Underground made in the ’60s. Yet there is a freshness and sense of individuality to songs like “Just Like Honey” and “Taste of Cindy.”
The group’s second album, “Darklands,” is its best work. The distortion has been pared back, allowing the vocals a richer place in the mix. The song writing is also more consistently rewarding. Highlights include the insistent and infectious “Happy When It Rains” and the gorgeous “April Skies,” which features both chiming and thick guitar textures. As with “Psychocandy,” noirish lyrics dominate the soundscape here.
The Jesus and Mary Chain delivered another winner with 1989’s “Automatic.” “Here Comes Alice,” “Coast to Coast” and “Head On” rank among the band’s best ever tracks. “Head On” may be its most well-known song since the Pixies subsequently recorded it for its 1991 “Trompe Le Monde” album.
The band’s 1992’s “Honey’s Dead” and 1994’s mostly acoustic “Stoned & Dethroned” complete the Rhino reissues series. Both contain some worthwhile tracks. But overall, they aren’t up to the lofty standards set by the first three albums.
The Jesus and Mary Chain recorded two more albums before calling it a day in 1999.