(((withoutsound)))

I’m guessing most folks’ familiarity with Jesus and Mary Chain boils down to one of three places. “Just Like Honey” at the ending of Lost in Translation, “Snakedriver” in the 1994 film The Crow, or “Sometimes Always”, a duet with Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval off of 1994’s Stoned & Dethroned.

Well for me, the Jesus and Mary Chain was a band that I gradually drifted toward in high school as I began to venture outside the boundaries of jean jackets, camaros, and classic rock. Looking back, it seems a logical progression as I was listening to my parents’ Beach Boys records at the same time as I was checking out David Bowie and the Velvet Underground.

The Scottish brothers, William and Jim Reid seemed absolutely mesmerized by the transformation that sunny 60’s pop underwent as that decade ended - drugs got harder and things got weirder. Their sound, which was almost equal parts Brian Wilson and Lou Reed, influenced nearly a decade’s worth of bands like My Bloody Valentine, the Brian Jonestown Massacre, Ultra Vivid Scene, and Yo La Tengo. Jesus and Mary Chain broke up in 1999 but the Reid Brothers reunited last year and released Jim’s tune “Song For A Secret” as a single split with their sister Linda’s track “Cannot Stop The Rock” (as Sister Vanilla).

Rhino recently re-issued remastered dual discs of the first five of JAMC’s albums (neglecting only 1998’s Sub Pop released Munki), and I had the opportunity to listen to their first two albums: Psychocandy, which is hailed by many rock critics as the band’s seminal work, and the follow-up, Darklands. These discs are “dual” in the fact that one side has the remastered tracks on a CD and the other side has them in a surround-sound DVD version with some videos thrown in for the hell of it.

After just a few listens, it’s easy to see a huge progression from Psychocandy to Darklands. Psychocandy was all about noise, and while it’s still a great album, I’m not sure there was any point in remastering it. The sound quality doesn’t seem to have improved a whole lot - at least I wasn’t able to discern any improved clarity in the feedback. Darklands, on the other hand, strips out a good portion of the noise and focuses more on fleshing out the band’s sound. After listening to it the two in order, I kinda wish I had the other three remastered discs so I can reminisce about just how much their sound evolved over 10 years.

Here’s a start for you:

• Listen to In A Hole (CD Version)
• Listen to You Trip Me Up (CD Version)
• Listen to Happy When It Rains (CD Version)
• Listen to April Skies (CD Version)

You can buy Pscyhocandy or Darklands directly from Rhino here.