The Jesus And Mary Chain

21 Singles Rhino

Feedback-fuelled collection makes its vinyl debut. As someone who was at the Mary Chain’s first show, I can attest that their discovery of feedback was a game changer, turning the band from slightly gothy indie rockers into a band whose modus operandi – writing Beach Boys songs as though Brian Wilson had been replaced by Lou Reed – was insanely simple and marvellously effective.

Their first single, Never Understand, laid out the template for their entire career – a naggingly familiar melody sung by a man who sounded both bored and furious at the same time over guitars that twisted and tangled themselves up in wave after wave of feedback.

Even the sudden lurch of

Just Like Honey – Spectoresque drums, acoustic guitar – seemed to fit the template, in that it was an unlikely cross between the Beach Boys’ Surfer Girl and VU’s Femme Fatale.

By the time of their second album, the singles were called things like Happy When It Rains and featured thunderous echo and a chugging machine beat. The third album was full of singles called Blues From A Gun and Sidewinder. Nobody was fooled, though: the squalling was still there. This was the Jesus And Mary Chain.

As time passed, we became used to them, but they always managed to pull something out of the hat (referencing both the crucifixion and Jonathan Richman on Reverence), and even at the end (the first end, that is), they confounded listeners with a double A-side called I Hate Rock’n’Roll/I Love Rock’n’Roll.

This singles collection is on vinyl for the first time and its contents remain entirely mardy.

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david Quantick