Engineering The Sound: The Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy

Cast against the backdrop of a conservatively regressive political climate, Psychocandy’s amalgamation of melody and extreme noise bucked against prevailing notions of popular taste. Paired with churning feedback, its bubblegum teen angst represented a much-needed rebuke to the hollowness of mid-80s pop, the stagnancy of rock, and the unambitious post-punk landscape. The Jesus and Mary Chain’s debut was the wake-up call for a generation of artists and fans.
But it wasn’t just a ticket to Top 40 success. For Jim and William Reid it was a form of sonic escapism. Melding their disparate reverence of 60s girl groups, classic rock and Einstürzende Neubauten, the Scottish brothers from East Kilbride boldly sought to correct contemporary popular culture’s failure to provide an escape from their bleak suburban existence. An eruption of noise-pop underscored by punk idealism, Psychocandy cemented the Reid brother's place in music canon, elevating them from relative obscurity into a worldwide phenomenon.
Psychocandy was completed in six weeks on a modest budget of £17,000. Within their North London studio, the group took an almost perfectionist approach, a far cry from the drug-fuelled excess of their notorious live shows. “At the time, we made that album totally sober” bassist Douglas Hart told The Quietus in 2011. “We used to put a lot of this mad, drunken energy into the gigs with this pent-up anger that was kind of a, ‘If we don’t do this, we’re gonna die’ attitude. So when it came to making the record, we were very conscientious and not drinking and not getting wasted.”
“We weren’t aiming for a record that comes out in 1985 and then be forgotten in 1990” Adams revealed in the same interview. “We wanted to make a record that, if you heard it 25 years later, it wouldn’t sound like a 25-year-old record. And if it appealed to little spotty anoraks in their bedrooms like we were, that was good enough for us.”
Few could deny that the group have achieved their goal. Of all JAMC's recorded works; few come close to their captivating and influential debut. So great was the demand for their classic material the quarrelsome brothers reunited to tour in 2015, playing the album in its entirety. While it might be all but impossible to pour over every minute of the group’s production, here are five key elements which shaped the group’s distinctive debut.
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#thejesusandmarychain #psychocandy #shoegaze

[@matthewjenkins102]

The sound is what people talk about, but the reason why the album remains a classic is because of the simplicity and quality of the songs, just like the brothers themselves have said. You can play any of these songs on an acoustic guitar around a campfire and they are equally as strong.

[@arthurb6882]

I find this with a lot of music and it's a bit frustrating, it's almost always the songwriting which is by far the most important thing but people always talk about the sound way more, possibly because it's easier to talk about

[@thelo-fidelityarchive597]

​@@arthurb6882with Psychocandy it's absolutely both, the great Pop tunes colliding with those harsh sounds is what makes it special. That said I also love Darklands precisely because it shows people that the tunes work just as well without the noise, hell some of it's tracks are arguably even better.

[@MjNortham]

Totally agree! Incredible songs hidden behind chaos. Nothing more rebellious than writing a good song! Haha

[@dns1235]

The melodies absolutely buried in feedback. Mind blowing for the time. Changed the sound of pop music for me.

[@EditEverything]

i heard this when i was 15. at the time i was obsessed with the top 40. after hearing them i realised everything i knew about music was wrong. i was hooked. the 1998 sidewinder tour at the enmore theatre was absolutely epic and literally, a riot.

[@gorrillion1]

I first saw the Jesus and Mary Chain on some TV music show , I was 15 and it was the video for You Trip Me Up which had just been released , It was like a magical moment , I was already listening to alternative music at that age and 60's stuff like the velvet underground and the doors etc .. but when I saw this video it was like I had been hit on the head with a tuning fork that resonated with my soul or something , that big wall of noise over a beautifully melodic song and the video with all that sunshine and sand . They became my favourite band , I remember going to record shops and finding the Upside Down single and Never Understand and buying the Psychocandy album . I had the You Trip Me Up and Just Like Honey 12" even though they were on the album because I wanted to hear all the B-sides , things like Just Out of Reach , Vegetable Man and Head . Also the double Some Candy Talking EP with the gatefold sleeve . These were magical songs for me , unlike anything else I had ever heard , I loved the noise and the strange feeling it gave me , the beauty of the songs and the sound of the instruments , almost like psychedelic surf music , the reverb on the drums and the feedback over everything , I used to listen to it all through headphones and it was like I was in another world , a world of sonic joy and adventure , it was like a dream , they got it just right with these early records , what a wonderful time ..

[@monty1864]

Never understanding was my WOOOOOOAAAHH moment , things went a bit black , and I loved it !

[@rogerbelger2014]

great comment dacker. i remember my first time to hear their debut album , its was 1985, i was hooked, the sound was nothing ive ever heard before , they instantly took the #3 spot of my favorite bands and pushed Big Country to #4 ( U2 #1, The Church #2)

[@ren-jy9kp]

this is the level of obsessed i am wirg this band and im literally 15

[@oncewerekiwis]

This album is in my top ten all-time. It simply never dates itself.

[@chrisconklin873]

JAMC are so unique that they are their own Genre of music. One of the best bands of my generation.

[@stevebenoit5295]

Darklands to me is their masterpiece. It is the acoustic version of Psychocandy in some ways.

[@curly_wyn]

No way, Psychocandy’s a hundred times better. Their noise and feedback and avoiding the sound of the eighties entirely is what made them cool!

[@PeterParker-gp8bi]

@@curly_wyn i think their both good but i would still have to put psycho candy at number 1

[@Sugarnaut]

Luv ‘em both, but I listen to Darklands 10 times more often.

[@curly_wyn]

@@Sugarnaut I guess that’s because you’re attracted to the more *80s* sound of Darklands lol

[@arthurb6882]

@@curly_wyn not necessarily, what I love about the jesus and mary chain mainly is their songwriting, with the sound being important but not nearly as important as the songs themselves, and you can hear the songwriting much more clearly on darklands. psychocandy is still my favourite, but only because the songs are better I think. the feedback is cool but it's the songs which make them good

[@dondamon4669]

There first two albums are masterpieces! Fucking beautiful sound that could make you cry with hope!

[@hdufort]

I giggled when I watched a documentary about shoegaze and TJAMC were in the category "accidentally shoegaze" (nice joke). They really invented a sound.

[@stevej1154]

Snakedriver is, in my opinion, the pinnacle of their achievements. Not on the album, but would fit right in.

[@iggypopisgod9]

No mention of Velvets or Ramones as influence on introduction....boo

[@FrostedSeagull]

To Iggy, You make a good valid point and could have added Phil Spector's wall of sound. The brothers Reid were obviously influenced by the Velvets and other so called punk and post punk bands. The JAMC had their own unique formula and as I have written, reintroduced guitar, in particular distorted guitar with reverb. In 1991 the gnome of Darkness, front man from the Sisters of Mercy, Andrew Eldritch stayed the obvious. Whilst discussing his then latest album Vision Thing he said that the Sisters avoided guitar solos, repetitive choruses, added synthesiser, overplayed acoustic guitar that had been sampled 800 times. As one critic correctly said, Eldritch is full of it as Vision Thing is a hard rock album with no solos, a huge guitar sound I.e it sounds like 800 guitars are being played and the synth added to make it sound different from an atypical U. S. Band. VISION THING was classed as Industrial. Unfortunately both grunge and Ministry's Psalm 69 buried it. Eldritch was lucky that the world wide Goth audience helped Vision Thing sell into the millions.

[@HermanWaldorf]

but Rolling Stones,, c'mon..

[@curly_wyn]

@@FrostedSeagull Yeah, while lead guitar and guitar solos are cool, they’re not necessary and in my opinion are often meandering and time-wasting. A good rhythm guitar is the only guitar that really matters.

[@MagicofIreland]

One of the Greatest albums of all time, they never surpassed

[@uvepeu7855]

Sin duda

[@stravvman]

I don't understand why there's still not a single documentary on the band or at least a long video essay

[@Goatchild90]

One of the best deubt albums ever released One of the greatest albums of all time One of my favourite albums ever

[@avedic]

The most 90s 80s band ever.

[@sovaine]

The very first time that i heard Never Understand i was blown away it was like a experiencing your very first orgasm.... probably one of the most ferocious yet melodic records ever made 😊, that era was magical, everything that was great about UK music that will never be replaced.

[@MaxLoopTV]

Psychocandy is Melodic and Powerful...Still sounds Great today

[@MaxLoopTV]

@@curly_wyn It was produced in 1985 what do you expect

[@curly_wyn]

@@MaxLoopTV that was a stupid comment on my part, and was before I really gave the band a chance, I’m sorry. Psychocandy was actually inspired by the Wall of Sound. Now I love them, and tracks like Just Like Honey and The Hardest Walk make me tear up with hope and joy! ☺️🖤

[@jumofi]

Bollocks! The album biggest influence is The Velvet Underground.

[@vera.1yz764]

❤Jim!!! In teen I had a crash for all them I deeply remember that it s funny

[@FF-so3su]

£17 k in 1985 would have bought a family home in most British cities at the time.

[@MrBooYa-yd5er]

Absolutely the Nevermind of the 80s a standout melded classic and always will be

[@Absorbvids]

Favorite record.

[@SavagesInMyTown]

that a lot of info in three and a half minutes lol. i enjoyed the vid

[@vanmahler6282]

With Unknown pleasures of Joy Division, one of the most unique and special records of all the times.

[@TheSickNeeds]

good old sonic detritus..

[@nicksmart5469]

Makes the sex pistols sound like yes

[@marcraygun6290]

Will had gibson 330 not 335 and 8 don't think he had for this album

[@jimhinkley8983]

Surprised also to see the Rollings Stones mentioned when to me they probably had become a bloated parody of their early energy by the ear;y 80s when the Mary Chain said that's enough, we can do better than that dribble and tried to reinvent pop music. The Velvet Underground a far clearer influence and parallel, both in their sound and importance for the evolution of music. Even the Beatles I would think are a better pointer as they too were tremendously innovative and helped make music interesting again. But then I've never really enjoyed Mick Jagger's work :) and I'm sure the RS have contributed something... but more in the way that Mark Knopfler misused his obvious talent to make a largely forgettable catalogue except for the rather lovely Sultans of Swing.

[@latontolog]

VU are perhaps the most obvious influence on the Mary Chain, but they loved (60s/70s) Stones as well. Listen to the outro to "Nine Million Rainy Days" for one obvious reference.

[@Rugmunchersauce3]

Well, they were into what the Stones WERE in the 60s , when they were Brians group (just like in the actual photo of them in the video). They probably DIDN'T like what they had become, but that didn't mean they were going to pretend not to love their early work. I wouldn't go to see the RS anymore, even if I could afford their prices, but I still love their older stuff.

[@audiolego]

250k to record Loveless?

[@Flibbybibby]

Loveless did NOT cost that much. Repeating myth makes not fact.

[@latontolog]

Kevin is that you??

[@curly_wyn]

Imagine it cost even less 😂😂

[@Schlumbucketreturns]

A great and important band, but there would have been no Jesus and Mary Chain if not for the Velvet Underground. Give credit where it is due.

[@HermanWaldorf]

to me, the only serious reason to learn to play guitar is to make it sound as in Psychocandy. I saw Jesus and Mary Chain at the time of Automatic and it was great, I saw them again a few years ago in a festival and they were pathetic, should have given up a long time ago

[@sergiocosta_1975]

They sounded great to me last year: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bp2zq2OQfJtnq7c

[@ScottDonnelly-gs4xm]

What shite ,Bobby was in JAMC before primal Scream if u make a doc get it right,Bobby does not talk about being in any band b4 JAMC,in his own words in Tenement Boy

[@Rugmunchersauce3]

Not in it's full form, no. But it's not quite right what you wrote. In the book, he mentions playing briefly with Altered Images, Wake and also forming the very first version of Primal Scream with his mate. It was whilst trying to get some more members for PS that they met the JAMC and then THEY asked him to be their new drummer. The Primal Scream even opened for them occasionally, even though Bobby was also the drummer for the headlining band. Are you sure you really DID read the book?!

[@subterraneanpimpernel9455]

no mention of Joe Foster.

[@Sugarnaut]

You got my attention. What did he do?

[@Mark95876]

The best and the worst rolled into one. Sounds like the Verve's guitarist Nick McCabe.

[@aranyawaasii]

struth!

[@flinchey6962]

Jim’s a genius

[@David-dv2lb]

The girl reading this has no idea what she's saying.

[@Rugmunchersauce3]

She's just reading something already prepared for her by someone else who hasn't done all the homework for it.

[@therealparanormale]

the jesus reid

[@theetea5961]

😂