Psychocandy - The Jesus and Mary Chain

A friend inspired a JAMC binge today. I'm fortunate enough to have a copy of Darklands on Vinyl (my wife's I believe) and The Peel Sessions on disc, but I had to go to youtube for this one.

There's something smoky and disturbing about JAMC. When I first heard the band's name, somewhere around the time of the first ever Lollapalooza concert,* I felt as though I had heard the name of a secret society. It seemed hush hush. Very occult. The band ended up not sounding anything like I thought they would (though I couldn't tell you what that was) but that was good, very good. Years later I'd have a slight interest in and then a small aversion to The Raveonettes based on a perceived imitation of JAMC's sound. And yeah - there are A LOT of similarities, but The Raveonettes have become one of my favorite bands EVER and have retroactively helped me realize even more of the pure sonic beauty of JAMC.


......................

*No - unfortunately I was not old enough or savvy enough to have attended the first Lollapalooza. Being in my early teens at the time this kind of thing was only slightly on my radar. The second one I think I probably didn't have the money for, so it wasn't until the third one that I attended a 'palooza, and then probably only after Mr. Brown prompted me to. It was the only one I ever did and ever will. It was great to see the bands I saw there but I am NOT a festival person. Unless it's in England. I'd go to ATP or Minehead in a freakin' second.