27 November 2015 - 0 Comments

It’s been 30 years since they changed the world.

In 1985, The Jesus & Mary Chain released their debut album, Psychocandy, to an unwitting and unwilling public. In a pop music scene littered with acts that seemed to value style over substance, the fuzzed-out sound of The Jesus & Mary Chain was never going to sit easily next to Soft Cell, Adam & The Ants and Spandau Ballet. As vocalist Jim Reid explains, “I didn’t feel very comfortable in that decade”.

Described as “the Velvet Underground meets The Ronettes”, or “the Shangri-las backed by a noise band”, Psychocandy eventually attained legendary status, and is now given credit for starting Shoegaze and Britpop, making the airwaves safe for the likes of everyone from My Bloody Valentine to Oasis.

Songs like Just Like Honey or You Trip Me Up show off the legendary sound of Psychocandy… sweet pop melodies wrapped in a lysergic wall of sound that would make Phil Spector weep.

“We wanted the guitars to be as out there as possible”, says Reid. Now, those guitars are back out there as the Reid brothers Jim and William, are on the road playing Psychocandy in its entirety. This is the best way to experience the visceral power of an album that has defied the odds to become a classic.

Like the Velvet Underground before them, the music of the Jesus & Mary Chain has endured when others of its vintage has simply become a quaint artefact of its time.

The Jesus & Mary Chain - Psychocandy in its entirety
Friday, March 4^th– Powerstation

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