Licorice Pizza: Psychocandy

2/10/2007

Psychocandy

I picked up this debut disk from the Jesus and Mary Chain when it was released, in 1985. For a few months, I was trying to broaden my musical horizons away from the metal diet I had been on for so many years. With their buzz saw guitars, JAMC seemed a good way to wean myself.

Unfortunately, it didn’t take. Although I liked their sound, I couldn’t get into the band. They were too “arty” or something for me. It took me a few more years, after I’d gone from Lou Reed, back to the Velvet Underground, then forward again to newer bands, that I was able to more appreciate JAMC. And although I haven’t bought any of their other albums, I still listen once in awhile to Psychocandy.

Twenty-some years later, it's interesting to read this review of Psychocandy:

“Ever wondered what happened to punk? Under the ministrations of this enterprising quartet from Scotland, it has hooked up to pop, knocked off some riffs from Phil Spector and some heavy guitar feedback from Jimi Hendrix, then gone out slam dancing again. Too goofy to be as nasty as the Sex Pistols, the Jesus and Mary Chain is, however, unlikely to appear anytime soon in concert with Amy Grant. The tunes have suggestive titles (Taste The Floor, Inside Me), but the melodies are sprightly enough for a sock hop, and the lyrics get sunk somewhere beneath the feedback, perhaps for safety's sake. The Chain is one of England's hottest bands at the moment, and this debut album is both cunning and funny enough to raise the temperature a few notches in the colonies as well.” (by Jay Cocks, from Time magazine, 1985.)

These songs are some of my favorites from that album.

Never Understand.mp3
Just Like Honey.mp3
Cut Dead.mp3