Jesus And Mary Chain

Sometimes in rock a total revolution in the way music is made and conceived can happen in a completely unintentional way: and in recent years no one exemplifies this better than the Scottish Jesus And Mary Chain, the creation of the quarrelsome Reid brothers – William (guitar) and Jim (voice) – a perfect example of how a simple, almost banal idea can radically change things in music, especially at a time when the new British "independent" rock in all its forms (dark, electro-wave, and melancholic melodic pop-rock in the vein of Smiths) was stagnating in its own clichés, unable to make any real leap forward (aside from the magic woven by 4AD, though that was a musical universe unto itself), or worse, was dangerously converting itself to fashionable sounds (synth-pop), often with disappointing results: what's certain is that no one seemed capable of reigniting the fire and fury of punk, by then unanimously declared prematurely dead and buried.

But when, in October 1984, four unknown Scottish kids released their first single, "Upside Down", many felt a miraculous revival of the sacred fire of the Sex Pistols might be at hand. And indeed nothing about them betrayed that impression: incendiary live shows, a cocky, arrogant attitude (with statements not far from today's Gallagher-esque refrain of "we're the best rock band ever") and, last but not least, a natural talent for gratuitous, mocking provocation (just the band's name says it all, not to mention lyrics that were far from schoolboy fare — in some cases bordering on hardcore).

In short, the fearsome Reid brothers, and no less their two bandmates, bassist Douglas Hart and perpetually drunk drummer Bobby Gillespie (the same one who would soon launch the fortunate adventure of Primal Scream), had already, with their early singles, laid the right groundwork to become the leaders of a "new" punk — one that combined the genre's basic rules (fast, deliberately rough songs built on no more than three chords) with both the suffocating atmospheres of dark-wave and an undeniable melodic gift. But what set the band apart from the start was the noise: William Reid's guitar sounded distorted beyond belief (though not so far removed, in truth, from the blasts that, on the other side of the ocean, characterized the new hardcore of Husker Du and Minutemen). In any case, after a handful of singles, the band already had a major-label deal in hand, along with the chance to record their debut album, which is none other than "Psychocandy".

And right at the opening, to avoid any doubt, comes their masterpiece — the manifesto of an entire new musical genre, and one of the finest songs of the whole 1980s: "Just Like Honey". Gillespie sets the pace pounding on percussion that sounds like rattling chains, Hart comes in with a simple, penetrating dark-tinged bassline, until William Reid unleashes his stark chords disfigured by noise, and Jim, with a ghostly, melodious voice, sings a melody of rare beauty: at that point the rhythm opens up, and the song turns into a memorable ballad, a perfect and unrepeatable fusion of noise and melody.

The rest of the record does little more than build variations on this theme (in some cases almost repeating it verbatim, as in "Sowing Seeds"), at times launching into frantic Ramones-like rides ("My Little Underground", "The Living End", "Taste of Cindy"), at others slowing the pace down to the point of brushing against the rituals of goth music ("Taste the Floor"), and alternately exalting the melodic side (with true masterpieces like "The Hardest Walk", which nails an almost perfect cadence and harmony, and the acoustic "Cut Dead", not unlike the visionary, fairy-tale-like ballads of Syd Barrett) and the noisier side (with the terrifying distortions of "In A Hole", "You Trip Me Up" and "It's So Hard", which come close to industrial cacophony).

Overall, the album is a true masterpiece, remarkably tight and mature, carrying within it all the sonic "signs" of its era: there's the supersonic punk of the Ramones and the apocalyptic punk of the Sex Pistols, the intimate hardcore of Husker Du and the refined melodies of the Smiths, the claustrophobic sound of dark-wave and "metallic" violence. But the real revolution of Jesus And Mary Chain lies elsewhere: the importance of this album certainly doesn't rest on the simple idea of extreme or constant feedback use, but on the final result, which went well beyond its original premises; in its extreme noise and its creative contrast with the splendid, simple melodies sung in Jim Reid's honeyed voice, distortion, violence and, essentially, punk fury take on a meaning that shifts from terroristic to cathartic. The Jesus's piercing scream is no longer aimed outward, at society, at rebellion: instead it's fully internalized and carried to a deeper dimension.

It is the premise for the birth of "shoegaze", even though it would be other bands who would fully carry through the Reids' insights: because it's likely that the Reids themselves got something out of this record that went well beyond their actual intentions and abilities. And their subsequent albums, marked by a bland noise-pop only occasionally able to recapture the glories of this record, prove that the two Scottish brothers never even set out to start a revolution. Years later My Bloody Valentine would arrive to definitively complete what Jesus And Mary Chain had only begun, perhaps unwittingly. What matters, in any case, is that their first record is a work of fundamental importance in the history of rock, a seminal album like few others. But above all, and quite simply, it's a record of beautiful songs. And that was probably the Reids' real goal: to enter rock history through the front door, on the strength of the beauty of their songs — and the two Scots hit the mark dead on, on their very first try: and if, to be sure they'd get in, they preferred to smash that door down with waves of draining feedback, all the better for us and for every future shoegazer to come.

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google

31/10/2006