It’s not a return, it’s not a comeback, it’s quite simply a reaffirmation.
In the decades that have ensued since The Jesus and Mary Chain‘s inception their influence on music has been almost inestimable. They brought together disparate styles of music and, with the purest of rock and roll attitudes, quite simply ripped everything to pieces and rolled around in the detritus.
The result was music in its most primal and sordid state.
The music on ‘Live At Barrowlands‘ is a step by step lesson in what can be achieved with a simple blend of distortion, amplification and a big fuck you to everything that has gone before – that is with the exception of the majesty of Phil Spector’s teen operas from bands like The Ronettes. Every track is emblematic of their sound and style, all pushing a unique agenda without ever becoming repetitive or a rehashed.
From opener ‘April Skies‘ the tone is set, absolutely none of the track’s louche resignation lost in the almost 30 years since its release. It’s the instant epitome of ethereal cool, yet this album hasn’t even got going yet. ‘Some Candy Talking‘ is just another stage in foreplay, a twisted pop classic that is as rousing and playful as it is controlled and restrained.
What follows is a distinct gear shift, but while tempos may fluctuate, the intensity never dips. It’s track after track of sheer audacity, ‘Psychocandy‘ offering a Spector tinged acid flashback while ‘The Living End‘ seems to indeed offer the living end, repeatedly kicking and kicking at a wall for no other reason than it being there.
Each cut sounds as vital as they ever did. ‘Reverence‘ is still just as destructive and bruising, its raw intensity hasn’t diminished a single decibel, and ‘Upside Down‘ too remains equally brilliant, like a raw nerve that can’t be left alone.
These are not singular moments either. What makes this record so impressive is just how many tracks are so vital. ‘Taste The Floor‘ is unnerving and intimidating, and wholly brilliant. ‘Taste Of Cindy‘ is a pure pop pleasure, wrapped in a truly nightmarish hallucination. ‘Never Understand‘ is everything the Mary Chain are about, in three wonderful messy minutes. ‘Just Like Honey‘ is what Dirty Dancing should have sounded like; unadulterated fuzzy filth with a 60’s beat.
This isn’t an album rehashing former glories, or jaded musicians going through the motions. It’s already been said but is worth repeating: this truly is a reaffirmation of the Mary Chain’s power and brilliance, not their importance or their position – those are things for others to assess and history to chronicle.
Even after all these years, this is music that tears apart expectations, in no doubt of its own brilliance. As an album, this might not be breaking the ground itself, but it’s no less exciting or important.
The Mary Chain’s live brilliance is still very much alive, and is still every bit as brilliant.
Excellent review – having just seen JAMC at the Forum last week I can confirm that they are sounding great at the moment!!!