THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN | LIVE PREVIEW
Y Plas, Cardiff University Students Union, Tue 3 Oct
When The Jesus And Mary Chain imploded amid bitterness and acrimony in 1999, it seemed unlikely that Jim and William Reid would ever be seen together on stage again, let alone manage to stomach collaborating on the creation of a new album. And yet here we are, nearly two decades later, with the resurrected JAMC back on tour in support of a new LP.
Its title, Damage And Joy, neatly encapsulates the East Kilbride provocateurs’ original modus operandi: gleefully wrecking amps and eardrums, inciting riots and subjecting pop music to violent assault – and giving inordinate pleasure in the process. Early singles Upside Down and Never Understand, plus debut album Psychocandy, took the work of Phil Spector and the Beach Boys and buried it beneath a blanket of piercing feedback. Fellow Psychocandy track Just Like Honey, however, signalled a soft spot for melody that subsequently found particular expression on 1994’s Stoned & Dethroned and its gorgeous single Sometimes Always, a duet between Jim and Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval.
Damage And Joy is, as Jim told Pitchfork earlier this year, “a continuation from where we left off” (1998’s Munki) and “unmistakably Mary Chain”. It and their appearance at the Students Union are both reasons to be thankful that the brothers have buried the hatchet – and not in each other’s heads.
Tickets: £27.50. Info: 029 2078 1458 / www.cardiffstudents.com
words BEN WOOLHEAD photos STEVE GULLICK