Sweet Distortion: Retro Review of "The Jesus & Mary Chain's "Psychocandy"

The Jesus & Mary Chain

After a year or two of moping to sad synthpop like Depeche Mode, in early 1986, I was ready to get back into rock.  I wasn't ready to foray back into metal; I wanted something different.  That's when I came across "Psychocandy" by The Jesus & Mary Chain.  This album was perfect for a kid who spent his lunch money buying used paisley shirts from the thrift shop.  The whole album had a '60s vibes, similar to The Shangri-Las or The Ronettes or any of the stuff Phil Spector was producing back then.  "Psychocandy" was a great album and became one of my favorites.  The vocals were soft and breathy.  The guitars were full of feedback and distortion, creating a foggy and dreamlike feel - dark, depressed, moody.  Perfect for a 16 year-old self-styled poet.

The Jesus & Mary Chain weren't necessarily the first.  There were bands like Felt who had a similar style.   But they certainly were the most influential.  There were many bands who came along who imitated their sound - The Primitives, The Stone Roses, and even Mazzy Star.  The Jesus & Mary Chain laid the whole foundation for the shoegaze scene that would start soon after, an influence that continues into our day.  They entered public consciousness again when their song "Just Like Honey" played during a pivotal scene in the film "Lost in Translation".

I had  not owned this album since back in the day, so I recently downloaded it.  Of course, the whole album is great.  But I seem to be a child that has been spoiled by digital quality.  The production value of the engineering is not so great, making it hard for me to listen to it at times.  Maybe this is petty, but there are some pretty great songs here, and I can't add them to any mixes I make because the recording level is incongruous with other songs I am listening to.  Perhaps this grittiness and messiness was always part of their appeal.  So the album has to stand on its own.

Like I said, there are many great songs here, one barrage of sweet distortion after another, from "The Living End" and "Taste the Floor" to "Never"Understand" and "You Trip Me Up".  Of course, most people remember "Just Like Honey", but my favorite song will be "The Hardest Walk".  It takes me back to my teen years.

There is a new album and a tour.  But honestly, I could not get into The Jesus & Mary Chain beyond their debut album.  It is nice, though, to know that they still blowing out speakers on a stage somewhere.