When examing the time when The Jesus and Mary Chain released ‘Psychocandy’ you have to look at music around the time it was released.
Safe and bland bands like Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet dominated pop music and were creating music of its time. ‘Psychocandy’ was released at this time and sounds 20 years ahead of its time.
The Jesus and Mary Chain revolutionised a sound that ultimately evolved into the genre of ‘shoegazing’ but ‘Psychocandy’ covers so much ground in terms of its sound.
The underlying sound that drives ‘Psychocandy’ is the tussle between loud ear piercing guitars and a keen sense for pop melodies with a punky attitude.
The earliest offering by the band that showed their talent was shown in their first single release Upside Down which was ultimately an example of things to come.
The album kicks with the best song of The Jesus and Mary Chain’s career, Just Like Honey. The song kicks off with a drum beat straight from the early 60s classic Be My Baby by the Ronettes.
It showed the surprising influence that 60s girl groups had on the band showing that they did have ears for a great hooky melody. The song is probably most famous for its use in Sofia Coppola’s film Lost in Translation.
The group were and have been dominated by the Reid brothers Jim and William. William’s guitar and Just Like Honey is the best guitar sound I’ve ever heard on a song.
The fuzz distortion style is a dangerous style to use as whenever I’ve ever heard a guitarist use this style it’s kinda used as a way of covering their shortcomings. Reid uses style, not as the overall sound as his playing but just to give the songs a little more power to help make the songs stand out.
Reid’s method is interesting as his playing on a lot of songs sounds like uncontrolled mayhem. Reid goes mental on the song like ‘You Trip Me Up’. The playing on this is the only time it sounds like a person is proper trying to kill their guitar. To me, Reid is one of the most creative guitarists ever.
Jim Reid’s vocal is a key feature that would be used in the shoegazing genre. His whispery and melodic delivery compliments his brother’s guitar playing.
The rhythm section of Douglas Hart and Bobby Gillespie add a punky approach to the album. Hart (the bassist) was infamous for his approach to his playing. Like cutting two strings off his bass and only playing with two.
Gillespie (drummer and future frontman of Primal Scream) had a unique set up to his drumming. He only played with a snare and floor tom, rather than a traditional drumkit. His playing really adds a primal edge to the album (pardon the pun).
The only really break from the chaotic noise throughout the album is the surprisingly quiet and gentle ‘Cut Dead’. It’s this type of style that ulitametly expand into their next album ‘Darklands’.
It’s the sound of ‘Psychocandy’ that would ultimately dominate the band’s career for the rest of their career. It’s a great sound to do for only a short amount of time. It doesn’t really last for a long amount of time. After a while its a fine line to walk if you want to become poppier but still retain your credibility.
The Velvet Underground (a huge influence on the band) saw this and by the time of their third album ‘The Velvet Underground, they had moved into a more pop and gentle direction.
It’s a sense of fucked if you do, fucked if you don’t kind of thing. You can alienate your early fans, but while also gaining a new different type of fan that wouldn’t have liked about. I do feel that post ‘Psychocandy’ The Jesus and Mary Chain did have better songs, but they weren’t as revolutionary in sound on their first album.
The lack of its commercial success has always hindered its revolutionary status, but don’t let that get in the way when listening to it. ‘Psychocandy’ is definitely an album that needs to be celebrated a lot more as a unique piece of music.
Nostalgic Beat 
