The Jesus and Mary Chain albums poll

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I feel so quick in my leather boots: poll of PSYCHOCANDY by THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN
I'm just your longtime curse: DARKLANDS by THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN, POLL OF
The Jesus and Mary Chain - Automatic poll

MARY CHAIN SINGLES POLL

I have signed up to do their artist poll but will probably never get around to it. I'm seeing them, yet again, in about 10 days. ILM has done a few albums so I thought an albums poll would be good to close out this shoegaze run since they are the masters.

Poll Results

OptionVotes
Psychocandy (1985) 44
Darklands (1987) 28
Automatic (1989) 6
Honey's Dead (1992) 4
Stoned & Dethroned (1994) 2
Munki (1998) 2
Damage and Joy (2017) 0
Glasgow Eyes (2024) 0


Bee OK, Tuesday, 29 October 2024 17:29 (one month ago) link

I didn’t get them as a band until Honey’s Dead, which is still my absolute favorite

DJP, Tuesday, 29 October 2024 18:02 (one month ago) link

"Far Gone and Out" is a marvelous single.

the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 29 October 2024 18:14 (one month ago) link

As is “Reverence”

DJP, Tuesday, 29 October 2024 18:31 (one month ago) link

“rollercoaster” too

brimstead, Tuesday, 29 October 2024 19:12 (one month ago) link

Automatic

Cognosc in Tyrol (emsworth), Tuesday, 29 October 2024 19:31 (one month ago) link

Psychocandy is one of the most overrated "classic" albums ever. Their next three are all better. Haven't heard the two post-reunion albums, although I did see them live post-reunion, pre-new albums and they were a blast.

Automatic is my pick. It's such a great, feel it in your guts, thrills and singalongs rock and roll album.

NoTimeBeforeTime, Tuesday, 29 October 2024 19:45 (one month ago) link

I won't keep knocking Psychocandy, clearly one of those Ya Had to Be There albums, but, yeah, I listen to Darklands and Automatic way more, and 21 Singles best of all.

the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 29 October 2024 19:52 (one month ago) link

Psychocandy then Darklands for me + write in vote for Barbed Wire Kisses. I like it most when they sound like a Scottish band hoovering up ideas from pop history and spewing them out in their own style.

Automatic is horribly hollow and American sounding, can't stand it.

Position Position, Tuesday, 29 October 2024 20:18 (one month ago) link

You people would say that.

the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 29 October 2024 20:20 (one month ago) link

The first thing I heard was Barbed Wire Kisses and at the time I thought it was one of the worst things I’d ever heard

DJP, Tuesday, 29 October 2024 20:24 (one month ago) link

Ya Ha To Be There but if you WERE... well, I voted Darklands, it's the one I truly imprinted on, but much as I like "Far Gone and Out" I just can't see anything post-Automatic as anything but a footnote to what I consider their real output -- "Reverence" in particular feels like an imitation J&MC song to me. "Barbed Wire Kisses" not really an album and thus not on here but "Everything's Alright When You're Down" really one of their highights.

Guayaquil (eephus!), Tuesday, 29 October 2024 20:26 (one month ago) link

If everybody had an ocean WALL OF NOISE across the usa BIGGER WALL OF NOISE

Guayaquil (eephus!), Tuesday, 29 October 2024 20:26 (one month ago) link

you people speak madness! psychocandy or go home! i mean for pete's sake...

overrated, i'll give you overrated...right in the snoot!

scott seward, Tuesday, 29 October 2024 22:55 (one month ago) link

Anyone that thinks it overrated needs the severe malky!

Toshirō Nofune (The Seventh ILXorai), Tuesday, 29 October 2024 22:57 (one month ago) link

I wasn’t there, this is Psychocandy hands down.

brimstead, Tuesday, 29 October 2024 23:07 (one month ago) link

I wasn't there, 21 Singles.

the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 29 October 2024 23:35 (one month ago) link

Psychocandy is the most important one but I like Darklands the best. They proved that they were at least a two trick pony with that album.

StanM, Tuesday, 29 October 2024 23:52 (one month ago) link

Psychocandy is massively underrated. So great that there was just no point listening to another JAMC album again. Even if it had been a one track album with just The Hardest Walk on it it would have got my vote. Psychocandy era live however was one of the worst gigs I ever saw.

stirmonster, Tuesday, 29 October 2024 23:57 (one month ago) link

psychocandy, i like the feedback, give me more of that

c u (crüt), Wednesday, 30 October 2024 00:14 (one month ago) link

Challop: "Just Like Honey" is not in the top half of the songs on Psychocandy

Guayaquil (eephus!), Wednesday, 30 October 2024 01:52 (one month ago) link

I don’t necessarily disagree but it’s a really killer opener

brimstead, Wednesday, 30 October 2024 02:07 (one month ago) link

Psychocandy is better than BWK, definitely

DJP, Wednesday, 30 October 2024 02:19 (one month ago) link

My take remains that they should have announced their breakup the day Psychocandy was released; it's not only a great album, but a beautiful gesture that could only have been improved by their immediately ceasing to exist.

That said, it's fun to listen to Automatic and Honey's Dead in the car, the former more than the latter. And if Barbed Wire Kisses was an option I'd seriously consider voting for it.

That new album is fucking awful.

Instead of create and send out, it pull back and consume (unperson), Wednesday, 30 October 2024 02:23 (one month ago) link

Psychocandy then Darklands for me + write in vote for Barbed Wire Kisses

This is me exactly, I love Barbed Wire Kisses. Darklands might be my actual favorite, it's hard to say, but there's just no way around Psychocandy. I was 16 and I'd lie on the floor of my bedroom and put it on as loud as I could get away with. I thought it was amazing. (My freshman year college roommate was a super straitlaced guy with a clutch of Amy Grant albums, and he refused to believe me that the album was supposed to sound like that. He assumed they were just incompetent musicians lol.)

Blitz Primary (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 30 October 2024 02:27 (one month ago) link

I only know the first two (and the EP between); Psychocandy by a mile.

clemenza, Wednesday, 30 October 2024 02:32 (one month ago) link

The next few albums that followed all had something to them one way or another but only Psychocandy has "My Little Underground" on it so there ya go.

Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 30 October 2024 02:45 (one month ago) link

Of course, psychocandy. Maybe should have excluded it...

Psychocandy era live however was one of the worst gigs I ever saw.

― stirmonster, Tuesday, October 29, 2024 11:57 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

No no no noo noo noo...
Hammersmith Palais, May 8 1986, a brilliant gig.

Just looked it up, support was Sonic Youth, Pink Industry and The Servants (missed Servants, sorry guys)

J&MC 45 mins, I believe it is was the first gig where they kept it together and did it right.

Oh, and I got to see John Peel in the audience, and met three of New Order. So yeah, maybe best gig ever....

But, even if it had been just the headliner for that 45 mins, still great

Mark G, Wednesday, 30 October 2024 07:48 (one month ago) link

I think Bobby had left by then and they were using a drum machine...?

fetter, Wednesday, 30 October 2024 07:58 (one month ago) link

If we're doing write-in votes, then I would pick the Complete Peel Sessions. I listen to it more than any of the studio albums. The Peel Session versions of the Psychocandy songs are all better than on the latter album.

NoTimeBeforeTime, Wednesday, 30 October 2024 08:10 (one month ago) link

Xpost think it was James pinker, but there was definitely a real drummer

Mark G, Wednesday, 30 October 2024 08:46 (one month ago) link

The most recent album is not shite

(Had third thoughts...)

Mark G, Wednesday, 30 October 2024 08:48 (one month ago) link

Just looked it up, support was Sonic Youth, Pink Industry and The Servants

yes, that sounds excellent. when i saw them they could hardly stand up, started fighting the audience, didn't manage to play a single song all the way through, played for 12 minutes and literally got run out of town right after.

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-jesus-and-mary-chain/1985/coasters-edinburgh-scotland-23c77c37.html

stirmonster, Wednesday, 30 October 2024 11:35 (one month ago) link

BWK was the big one for me — probably because that was the first one I heard. When Automatic came out I was like “where’s the feedback?” and never tried to keep up with them after that. Unfair? Probably. But there’s a lot of music in the world.

dentist looking too comfortable singing the blues (hardcore dilettante), Wednesday, 30 October 2024 11:45 (one month ago) link

xpost "Jim Reid falls off stage" lol

StanM, Wednesday, 30 October 2024 12:57 (one month ago) link

My history with this band is hearing Reverence on the radio in probably 1995 and made a mental note to try to buy the album this is from. I didn't actually buy Honey's Dead until a couple of years later but did in the meantime stumble upon a used copy of Stoned & Dethroned which didn't sound at all like I was expecting, though I did listen to it quite a bit anyway and did appreciate parts of it. When I eventually found Honey's Dead I liked it, but not as much as I thought I would. Then when I started going online on music message boards I saw that Psychocandy is supposed to be the best Jesus & Mary Chain album, which I eventually bought and didn't get at all and that was the end for me with this band.

So, probably going to vote Honey's Dead here.

silverfish, Wednesday, 30 October 2024 13:47 (one month ago) link

Just looked up stuff regarding that gig. Found the poster which says The Servants as third-billed but no Pink Industry, so I'm guessing there was a last minute replacement and there was no Servants.

Mark G, Wednesday, 30 October 2024 13:59 (one month ago) link

Phil King of The Servants later joined the Mary Chain, iirc.

fetter, Wednesday, 30 October 2024 15:35 (one month ago) link

only saw the J&MC once in November 1992 (Spiritualized was the opener, the Fucked Up Inside set) and they were laughably bad, the edges and noisiness all polished off. But the main thing that stuck in my mind as ridiculous was their visuals/projections - spinning clipart of a star, a gun, a heart etc. - which, especially compared to Spiritualized, felt very lazy.

Psychocandy is amazing but voted Darklands, would also have considered voting for BWK. Have a soft spot for the overly long Stoned and Dethroned and its weary, hungover vibe.

famous instagram dog (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 30 October 2024 15:50 (one month ago) link

Write in ballot for Barbed Wire Kisses. A compilation, yes, but so good. Like VU, the odds and ends assembled here make for a more accurate and more FUN listen than the more dour and scowling "real" albums.

Brio2, Wednesday, 30 October 2024 15:51 (one month ago) link

I also saw them in '92 -- Lollapalooza! And like Shakey said they were awful, just indifferent if not sloppy, and I wasn't much of a fan yet. I suspected that booze and being on so early in the bill affected their mood, and the Reid memoir confirmed it.

the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 30 October 2024 16:05 (one month ago) link

psychocandy the work of my hero john loder. john loder the very very rich man's steve albini. albini tried to be loder but he never got there. probably my fave brit producer/engineer of all time. (partly because i have no idea who produced a lot of the 60s freakbeat that i love. and shel talmy is disqalified. have no idea who produced the first small faces album for instance. having said that, still, if i were a recording engineer i would want to be john loder.)

scott seward, Wednesday, 30 October 2024 16:25 (one month ago) link

I really love those chimey jangly lofi demos from 83 (?), “up too high” and the demo of “on the wall”. so dreamy and melancholic.

brimstead, Wednesday, 30 October 2024 16:33 (one month ago) link

Omg lol Nitsuh:

Obviously the drummer for such a group couldn’t sit behind a big kit looking like he knew what he was doing, so the JAMC stood Bobby Gillespie (yes, that one) up behind only two drums-- a floor tom and a snare-- and had him bash away like he was pissed off at them but either too bored or too drunk to finish them off. A similar approach was taken to bass guitar and vocals.

If the band had applied these tactics to knotty, difficult music, you would never have heard of them, and Dominique Leone would be reviewing these reissues.

Patti The Pone (flamboyant goon tie included), Wednesday, 30 October 2024 16:33 (one month ago) link

Also, their live album (from Barrowlands) is awesome

Patti The Pone (flamboyant goon tie included), Wednesday, 30 October 2024 16:43 (one month ago) link

Looking at the singles results from 2008--I definitely would have voted "Never Understand."

clemenza, Wednesday, 30 October 2024 16:48 (one month ago) link

quite surprised by the affection for Barbed Wire Kisses!

the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 30 October 2024 16:49 (one month ago) link

why though it has so much great stuff on it.

scott seward, Wednesday, 30 October 2024 17:02 (one month ago) link

It does, just surprised it might match Psychocandy in votes.

the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 30 October 2024 17:03 (one month ago) link

I’m surprised because my memory of the one time I listened to it was that it was terrible

DJP, Wednesday, 30 October 2024 17:05 (one month ago) link

They got mad that nobody appreciated their beautiful songs because of the Psychocandy ~vibe~ and dialed it way down, and that's why Psychocandy wins. Other albums have high points and low points but every track on Psychocandy sounds like Psychocandy and that's the good stuff.

Doctor Madame Frances Experimento, LLC", Wednesday, 30 October 2024 20:19 (one month ago) link

This thread has occasioned me to pull out the Power of Negative Thinking box set for the first time in ages, and marvel again at the demo version of "On The Wall."

henry s, Wednesday, 30 October 2024 20:35 (one month ago) link

i need that. i never got a copy. i need that complete peel sessions cd as well. you'd think someone would have brought them in for me to buy at the store but they really haven't. and the negative thinking set is too high used online for me.

scott seward, Wednesday, 30 October 2024 20:45 (one month ago) link

i've had the Hate Rock 'n' Roll comp in my car for the last month and this always makes me laugh:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEc0q8FH6eQ

scott seward, Wednesday, 30 October 2024 20:48 (one month ago) link

I have an advance copy of the Power box that I got from Rhino when it first came out. No booklet or anything, just 4 CDs in one of those fat jewel cases. I don't think I've ever listened to the whole thing.

Instead of create and send out, it pull back and consume (unperson), Wednesday, 30 October 2024 21:00 (one month ago) link

I love stoned and dethroned but listening back for the first time in a while recently and it should be a much shorter album

Heez, Wednesday, 30 October 2024 21:09 (one month ago) link

So honeys dead, because I had a big poster of the cover on my wall growing up

Heez, Wednesday, 30 October 2024 21:10 (one month ago) link

i like everything up to and including munki. i think i have avoided the 21st century stuff because i was afraid that it was going to remind me of the soup dragons or something. just a gradual loss of power.

scott seward, Wednesday, 30 October 2024 21:44 (one month ago) link

Same here. Munki was excellent all the way through. I love how their sister sings lead on "Moe Tucker", and how another song is named "Supertramp", yet is seemingly neither about the band nor a tramp who may be super.

henry s, Wednesday, 30 October 2024 21:58 (one month ago) link

And on the topic of JAMC live, I saw them on the "Rollercoaster" tour with Curve and Spiritualized, and thought they were great! Better than when I saw them touring for Automatic.

henry s, Wednesday, 30 October 2024 22:00 (one month ago) link

Psychocandy is already wayyy dialled down compared to their breakout singles, but it's true that Darklands is an even easier listen. Honey's Dead is so crazy to listen to, I don't remember liking it but I'll give it another shot...

Patti The Pone (flamboyant goon tie included), Wednesday, 30 October 2024 22:35 (one month ago) link

Honey's Dead is good!

scott seward, Wednesday, 30 October 2024 22:39 (one month ago) link

Really? I just remember it being the tinniest imaginable version of Madchester baggy. I will listen again tomorrow

Patti The Pone (flamboyant goon tie included), Wednesday, 30 October 2024 23:33 (one month ago) link

So many great/dumb couplets on Munki:

I love Beatle John
she loves Beatle Paul
we don't hate the rest
we can love them all

henry s, Wednesday, 30 October 2024 23:34 (one month ago) link

Honey's Dead does have some of those Madchester drum sounds but i like it a lot anyway. i like songs like "Reverence". "Far Gone And Out". i like the whole thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qL6CRZAgKgM

scott seward, Wednesday, 30 October 2024 23:48 (one month ago) link

Their covers are always great, from Vegetable Man through Little Red Rooster, Alphabet St (lol).

fetter, Thursday, 31 October 2024 11:47 (one month ago) link

I think those first five are all good, plus Barbed Wire Kisses of course, and YES to their covers. (They also remixed "Birthday" by Sugarcubes, which basically makes it into a cover).

But for me it has to be Psychocandy, most of all for the songs. On pretty much any other one of their records there's a couple weaker tracks, or a song that's basically a rewrite of another one on the album. And especially in the drum machine era, the songs simply often go on for too long. ("April Skies," despite being a masterpiece, would be even better with 20 second shaved off). Psychocandy for me is just the one where it maintains a mood, but has enough variety - Ronettes, Velvets, Beach Boys, Motown - that it feels like each of the songs is an important event listening front to back.

three of the doctor's valuable bats are now dead (broom air), Thursday, 31 October 2024 14:03 (one month ago) link

"Head On" is so much fun to karaoke.

the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 31 October 2024 14:17 (one month ago) link

went Darklands. fell in love with it at a very memorable time in my life. it was also 1 of 6 cd's permanently stuck in my car when the disc changer broke. has to count for something.

gman59, Thursday, 31 October 2024 17:45 (one month ago) link

I know Automatic isn't their best album, but it's the one I've listened to the most and the one I reach for.

Cow_Art, Thursday, 31 October 2024 19:09 (one month ago) link

Munki is excellent. For some reason I remember a much bigger gap between it and S&D. I guess four years was a while after having a pretty big hit.

Cow_Art, Thursday, 31 October 2024 19:10 (one month ago) link

Listening to Munki now and honestly it sounds like a Primal Scream album to me. (Not meant as a compliment.) Also, 17 tracks? 69 minutes? Fuuuuuck off.

Instead of create and send out, it pull back and consume (unperson), Thursday, 31 October 2024 19:33 (one month ago) link

I don't think I've ever listened to a full album post stoned & dethroned

Toshirō Nofune (The Seventh ILXorai), Thursday, 31 October 2024 20:52 (one month ago) link

the last time i played stoned & dethroned i went into a coma. totally passed out. that album is like a knock-out drop. so much mellow. also 17 tracks. speaking of 17 track J&MC albums.

scott seward, Thursday, 31 October 2024 23:17 (one month ago) link

first JAMC thing I bought was Far Gone And Out, loved that so I bought the Reverence single as well, and Automatic because I don't think Honey's Dead was out yet or at least wasn't in the tiny record shops we had where I grew up. got Barbed Wire Kisses and Honey's Dead later in the year, and I think then Darklands, so I was actually kinda late to listening to Psychocandy, which for some reason I never saw in the shop until I went to uni somewhere with slightly better record shops.

I do rate the first 3 + BWK a lot higher than their later stuff but Honey's Dead and Munki have lots of good stuff too. never liked Stoned & Dethroned outside of a few songs. I didn't like the new album much at all. I saw them live not long before it came out but they didn't play a single song off it

Colonel Poo, Friday, 1 November 2024 11:22 (one month ago) link

first JAMC i bought was Never Understand (having missed the first single entirely, depsite listening to all the right shows).

checking my phone, which is the most listend to stuff, i have have Psychocandy, Darklands, Honey's Dead, Barbed Wire Kisses on it and the Japanese version of Sound of Speed (which was different from the UK version by a couple of tracks). and the new one.

but this thread is making me want to listen to the others again.

koogs, Friday, 1 November 2024 11:31 (one month ago) link

I was kind of enjoying Glasgow Eyes as, uh, a Primal Scream album until it got to the "I've been rolling with the Stones" song and then I had to turn it off and never listen to it again.

Doctor Madame Frances Experimento, LLC", Friday, 1 November 2024 21:44 (one month ago) link

I know lyrics are not their strong suit but sometimes they simply bottom out:

Little skinny girl, she's doing it for the first time
Little skinny girl, she's doing it, and it feels fine
She's taking hold, and I'm holding on
Holding on and my sense is gone
I got it, you got it, she's got it

henry s, Friday, 1 November 2024 21:49 (one month ago) link

They picked up where your precious Echo left off and you’re sitting around complaining about no more Echo albums. I can’t believe you don’t own this fucking record.

brimstead, Friday, 1 November 2024 22:02 (one month ago) link

Funnily enough my years picked up on that lyric as I was listening to Honey's Dead this morning.

I loved Psychocandy and Barbed Wire Kisses (I used to have a cassette of it; back then I wanted to hear 'Upside Down').

I think I heard some other singles from Darklands and Cracking up and thought it was a loss of nerve after all the fuzz. So never bothered to dig too much into it.

Due to this thread I listened to Darklands, Automatic and Honey's Dead and I'm grateful because the latter is really almost as good as Psychocandy. The guitars and feedback are nearly on that level with better drums (Madchester is a really good shout, Scott otm!)

Shame that they did lose the faith with the noise after Psychocandy, though. They aren't great songwriters though Darklands and Automatic are better than virtually any Britpop.

xyzzzz__, Sunday, 3 November 2024 11:16 (one month ago) link

Voted for Honey's Dead.

xyzzzz__, Sunday, 3 November 2024 11:18 (one month ago) link

Darklands felt very dull after Psychocandy; I played it maybe half a dozen times. This band had been my life at the age of 15/16, and they were turning into a proper respectable alt-rock band.

Agree that later stuff is often indistinguishable from Primal Scream. Jim and Bobby use a similar cod-American singing voice.

fetter, Sunday, 3 November 2024 11:43 (one month ago) link

“Teenager Lust” is an absolutely fantastic song

DJP, Sunday, 3 November 2024 13:13 (one month ago) link

as a fan of the leather nun and red lorry yellow lorry i would have been fine with an entire album of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMMZyS1gAgI

scott seward, Sunday, 3 November 2024 15:05 (one month ago) link

i've never listened to a primal scream album but didn't JAMC do primal scream before primal scream?

scott seward, Sunday, 3 November 2024 15:06 (one month ago) link

i should also listen to Automatic again. i haven't heard it in years. i played it when it came out but then i didn't really play it much again.

scott seward, Sunday, 3 November 2024 15:07 (one month ago) link

i mean i did hear some primal scream way back when and it always sounded so corny to me and never really reminded me of JAMC. more like a Madchester Black Crowes or something which made me cringe really hard. any 80s stuff i heard by them left no impression. the late 90s stuff...i have no idea. i have a vague memory of it sounding like bad happy mondays.

scott seward, Sunday, 3 November 2024 15:19 (one month ago) link

which is saying something because the happy mondays already sound like a bad happy mondays to me.

scott seward, Sunday, 3 November 2024 15:19 (one month ago) link

i liked Automatic! listening now. it had tons of cool riffs. even the samples and beats were cool on this one. screamadelica, baby...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG0oLTxjBo8

scott seward, Sunday, 3 November 2024 15:23 (one month ago) link

You should listen to Primal Scream's XTRMNTR. It doesn't sound anything like the Jesus and Mary Chain. I wrote about it when it turned 20.

Instead of create and send out, it pull back and consume (unperson), Sunday, 3 November 2024 15:25 (one month ago) link

no thank you. just checking out vanishing point and it all sounds so lame. they were always years behind everything cool. in a world where the god-like blue lines existed for like 6 years they made that super-corny kowalski song. bleh. yeah, that's the difference for me. they were never cool and even lesser JAMC tracks sound cool to me.

scott seward, Sunday, 3 November 2024 15:48 (one month ago) link

Cmon this rules

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvONzeFOnYc

brimstead, Sunday, 3 November 2024 15:49 (one month ago) link

xtrmntr really is their best album

Toshirō Nofune (The Seventh ILXorai), Sunday, 3 November 2024 15:51 (one month ago) link

okay, xtrmntr is their big beat/mo wax album. yeah, bleh. and that swastika eyes song is just a bad JAMC homage. i would still listen to stuff on mo wax. or warp. or chemical brothers even. i love the red snapper album from 2000. another problem is that british icon and legend bobby primal scream is a totally sucky vocalist. he's not charismatic or cool sounding at all. kinda like when i tried to listen to brian jonestown massacre once.

scott seward, Sunday, 3 November 2024 15:55 (one month ago) link

no, that mbv arkestra thing sucks. i loved this album around that time though. still own it on CD and play it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcblH3i4ggI

scott seward, Sunday, 3 November 2024 15:58 (one month ago) link

we need a Sand reunion. the people demand it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfppOtn3YR4

scott seward, Sunday, 3 November 2024 16:00 (one month ago) link

i wish there was a book with different musicians talking about how they felt about JAMC when they came out. i feel like they were definitely one of those bands. i don't know if i've ever read kevin shields or justin broadrick talk about them. i'm sure there were all kinds of people who were blown away by them. and not just shoegaze types.

scott seward, Sunday, 3 November 2024 16:13 (one month ago) link

Sonic Youth were big supporters, not surprisingly, despite the groups' obvious differences.

three of the doctor's valuable bats are now dead (broom air), Sunday, 3 November 2024 20:11 (one month ago) link

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

System, Monday, 4 November 2024 00:01 (one month ago) link

glad this poll exists, i've really only heard psychocandy and darklands. barbed wire kisses contains some of their most supremely fucked material alongside some of their catchiest, it's really weird that it works at all. big revelation from hearing automatic for the first time is "between planets" is the best song ever written

ivy., Monday, 4 November 2024 15:02 (one month ago) link

Glasgow Eyes is going to win this, isn't it?

StanM, Monday, 4 November 2024 17:04 (one month ago) link

the first time is "between planets" is the best song ever written

The way I can sing "Head On" on top of those chords is one of the great things about JAMC, just like how 'April Skies' and "Happy When It Rains" are practically the same song.

the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 4 November 2024 17:06 (one month ago) link

First three are the only ones I listen to fairly regularly. Darklands is the one I'm most often in the mood for, and it gets played much more than the others, but had to vote Psychocandy as it still knocks me off my feet every time. I and I think most of my friends picked up Barbed Wire Kisses when it came out as Sidewalking was pretty big on the local college radio stations, and it sounded massive on the ridiculously large (and in retrospect probably pretty lousy) speakers that came with the Fisher component system I bought with my paper route money. I'll often put on their "Guitar Man" cover too.

A couple of months ago I was listening to Psychocandy while finishing up some yard work with the 2-stroke weed wacker. I noticed my kid trying to get my attention so I switched it off and pulled off my headphones, through which JAMC could still clearly be heard. The kid started to ask a question, paused, and said "Dad, your music sounds exactly like the trimmer."

early rejecter, Monday, 4 November 2024 17:25 (one month ago) link

I played "Sidewalking" on my college radio show during my one and only ill-fated year at college. I'd like to think I changed the lives of hundreds of children in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania that night.

scott seward, Monday, 4 November 2024 17:35 (one month ago) link

Right around that time my family was on a road trip and flipping through the radio late at night somewhere in PA I heard the Screaming Blue Messiahs for the first time. Maybe that was you? Wouldn't say it changed my life but I did buy the cassette at the next record store I stopped into!

early rejecter, Monday, 4 November 2024 17:50 (one month ago) link

On the other side of the dorm wall was a guy who spent a month playing his Sidewalking 12" over and over, and it put me off this band for decades. Honey's Dead is certainly sounding much better right now than I figured possible for its ubiquity in used bins.

Theracane Gratifaction (bendy), Monday, 4 November 2024 18:17 (one month ago) link

I wanted to listen to all of these again before voting but that didn't happen. Was too young for Psychocandy. Darklands is probably the correct answer but I got the most joy out of Automatic.

Bee OK, Monday, 4 November 2024 20:05 (one month ago) link

honey's dead is absolutely my fave of these

ivy., Monday, 4 November 2024 20:11 (one month ago) link

i also really love munki on first listen

ivy., Monday, 4 November 2024 20:18 (one month ago) link

love “moe tucker” off munki

brimstead, Monday, 4 November 2024 20:30 (one month ago) link

Pleasantly surprised by the affection for "Sidewalking."

the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 4 November 2024 20:35 (one month ago) link

I'm on pins n' needles waiting for the results of this! And the other election.

henry s, Monday, 4 November 2024 20:44 (one month ago) link

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

System, Tuesday, 5 November 2024 00:01 (one month ago) link

the way it should be. good work, everyone.

scott seward, Tuesday, 5 November 2024 00:08 (one month ago) link

Stoned & Dethroned too high but looks good otherwise.

early rejecter, Tuesday, 5 November 2024 00:42 (one month ago) link

I’m surprised Automatic did better than Honey’s Dead.

Cow_Art, Tuesday, 5 November 2024 01:17 (one month ago) link

I need to give Automatic a good loud listening. It's been a long time!

scott seward, Tuesday, 5 November 2024 01:52 (one month ago) link

was 1990 the first time i saw them, which was the Automatic tour (with the telescopes at the town and country), and then twice, i think, on the rollercoaster tour (brixton). both tours quite multimedia from what i remember, the films projected behind them being a large part of the experience. Douglas Hart was big on the film side of things iirc.

but my heart lies with the earliest stuff, i was never entirely convinced by Automatic.

koogs, Tuesday, 5 November 2024 01:58 (one month ago) link

saw them December 11, 1985. Die Kreuzen opening, First Avenue. fantastic. 20ish minutes as advertised, not a word to the audience, William facing away, Jim rubbing his guitar on the mic stand. mohican at the edge of the stage next to me yelling "play some fucking rock and roll" and telling him this is fucking rock and roll. the Upside Down and Never Understand singles were the biggest things in my musical world.

bulb after bulb, Tuesday, 5 November 2024 02:28 (one month ago) link

the Automatic tour (with the telescopes at the town and country)

that show was the one time i saw them.

visiting, Tuesday, 5 November 2024 03:36 (one month ago) link

Is anyone else here seeing JAMC with the Psychedelic Furs on Saturday night here in Los Angeles? If so hit me up,

Bee OK, Tuesday, 5 November 2024 07:18 (one month ago) link

I'll be there

Elvis Telecom, Tuesday, 5 November 2024 07:49 (one month ago) link

I approve of these results.

completely suited to the horny decadence (Capitaine Jay Vee), Tuesday, 5 November 2024 09:11 (one month ago) link

pleasing chronological results

nxd, Tuesday, 5 November 2024 10:46 (one month ago) link

I'm surprised, too, that Honey's Dead didn't rank higher. I remember that record as being a big deal at the time, including with the fans who had loved everything.

Agree that "Sidewalking" is all-time JAMC. Top ten no doubt.

three of the doctor's valuable bats are now dead (broom air), Tuesday, 5 November 2024 14:37 (one month ago) link

threw munki and automatic onto phone for randomised listening and keep hearing songs i don't actually know, but which are obviously jamc. birthday, for instance.

koogs, Tuesday, 5 November 2024 22:19 (one month ago) link

bought it at the time and also have the rhino extended version and still...

koogs, Tuesday, 5 November 2024 22:20 (one month ago) link

Though the first two records have a few good songs each, I'd have voted for the first I heard of them, a 1985 interview on The New Music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WS8nmyOlINU

Halfway there but for you, Friday, 8 November 2024 00:04 (one month ago) link

The best. "My favorite color is gold."

city worker, Friday, 8 November 2024 00:11 (one month ago) link

LOL @ Bobby being the boring sensible one.

biting your uncles (Tom D.), Friday, 8 November 2024 07:43 (one month ago) link

i listened to this the other day. nice shout-out to billie eilish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_OmkaD7JYA

scott seward, Friday, 8 November 2024 13:55 (one month ago) link

Not that I think they deserved votes, but the results make the two recent albums seem much worse than they are. I particularly liked Damage & Joy and would personally have ranked it above Munki.

Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 8 November 2024 15:16 (one month ago) link

the new one is pretty bad imo

something like this for me:

Psychocandy
Automatic
Darklands
Honey's Dead
Munki
Damage and Joy
Stoned & Dethroned
Glasgow Eyes

Colonel Poo, Friday, 8 November 2024 15:29 (one month ago) link

I'm trying to get excited about tomorrow night's show but it's so hard.

Bee OK, Friday, 8 November 2024 21:14 (one month ago) link

Just found my "Stoned and Dethroned" red shirt and probably won't wear it.

Bee OK, Friday, 8 November 2024 21:15 (one month ago) link

I'm trying to get excited about tomorrow night's show but it's so hard.

Just make a point to start a riot after the third or fourth song.

Halfway there but for you, Friday, 8 November 2024 21:19 (one month ago) link

threw munki and automatic onto phone for randomised listening and keep hearing songs i don't actually know, but which are obviously jamc. birthday, for instance.

― koogs, Tuesday, 5 November 2024 22:19 bookmarkflaglink

I really like Birthday fwiw. I might move Munki above Honey's Dead in my ranking above

Colonel Poo, Friday, 8 November 2024 21:51 (one month ago) link

Elvis, check your email

Bee OK, Saturday, 9 November 2024 02:14 (one month ago) link

Perfume is another nice track from munki i had forgotten about, if i ever knew. laid back, dub Mary Chain. and Black as well, sounds like teenage fanclub.

3x4 track EPS from that album, i should give those a listen too

koogs, Saturday, 9 November 2024 09:00 (one month ago) link

Bee OK, just messaged you

Elvis Telecom, Sunday, 10 November 2024 00:35 (one month ago) link

ilXor meet up did happen and I met Elvis Telecom last night after the show. We talked about old gigs and first times, conversation could have went on for hours actually. Security had a different idea and cut the meet up way too early. It was a pleasure and happy that we meet.

Bee OK, Monday, 11 November 2024 00:19 (one month ago) link

What cracked me up most is that what happened was exactly what I expected to happen.

Bee OK, Monday, 11 November 2024 00:21 (one month ago) link

Aw that’s great!!

brimstead, Monday, 11 November 2024 01:39 (one month ago) link

ilx people are awesome people to talk to in real life! i don't know what its like for other online communities but i immediately feel at ease when i hang with an ilxor. i end up blabbing a lot. its like i finally get to talk to someone who gets stuff that other people i know don't get. if you know what i mean.

scott seward, Monday, 11 November 2024 02:29 (one month ago) link

ILXors in being awesome non-shocker. Excellent to meet Bee OK after almost 40 years of going to the same gigs around LA - we could have kept the conversation going until sunrise. I warned Ms. T to expect a firehose of remembered gigs and

JAMC was good, if surprising to see them now as a super-tight band knocking out one song after another. Really wanted to hear "Sidewalking" though.

Elvis Telecom, Tuesday, 12 November 2024 01:38 (one month ago) link

"and we exceeded even that" at the end of that sentence.

Elvis Telecom, Tuesday, 12 November 2024 01:40 (one month ago) link

I'm a little late to the party, but i just got this discount box set of the first 5 albums, so i've been doing chronological run through.

The poll results suggested there was going to be a steep drop off in quality, so I've had the benefit lowered expectations for each successive release. Which means i've really been enjoying the later albums. To my ear, they peaked with either Automatic or Honey's Dead, but Stoned and Dethroned is really solid.

I can see why Psychocandy is the famous one -- there seems to have been a stylistic rigor where they wanted to mark out a space no one had claimed before. But I also think it's no coincidence that the most famous songs from that album are the ones that don't sound like tinnitus. Also, I kept noticing how limited the drumming is on that first album (and this was before I remembered it was Boabby on drums) -- it re-uses the same 2 drum patterns across the whole album.

Also, I had no idea, until i read the allmusic blurbs, that both brothers sing. Is there an ILM thread for bands that have 2 singers that sound so alike you never noticed? (this also happened to me with the Cars)

enochroot, Thursday, 21 November 2024 12:49 (one month ago) link

the most famous songs from that album are the ones that don't sound like tinnitus

apart from Just Like Honey, is this true? dunno what songs are most famous these days tbh. the other 2 singles are noisy as fuck

Colonel Poo, Thursday, 21 November 2024 18:29 (one month ago) link

Is there an ILM thread for bands that have 2 singers that sound so alike you never noticed?

Dead Can Dance? Just kidding... seriously though, Devo. Had no idea 100% of the songs weren't Mark singing.

the absence of bikes (f. hazel), Thursday, 21 November 2024 18:41 (one month ago) link

xp: yeah that post reads as a very basic (sorry) take/classic underrating Psychocandy if anything.

"The Hardest Walk"? "Never Understand"? "Cut Dead"?

c'mon!

Mrs. Ippei (Steve Shasta), Thursday, 21 November 2024 18:42 (one month ago) link

I don't know if I know which Bee Gee is which when they sing, does that count? xpost

StanM, Thursday, 21 November 2024 18:45 (one month ago) link

"The Hardest Walk"? "Never Understand"? "Cut Dead"?

c'mon!

100%

also, You Trip Me Up too. total (beautiful) tinnitus.

stirmonster, Thursday, 21 November 2024 18:58 (one month ago) link

there’s isn’t a single moment on psychocandy that doesn’t completely rule

brimstead, Thursday, 21 November 2024 19:19 (one month ago) link

i've had the psychocandy cd in my car for weeks now and that album should win every award just for song intros alone. every single song starts out so damn cool. that first phil spector 5 or 10 seconds. that *"crack of dawn..." alone is worth more than most 1985 records in their entirety.
this album was released around the same time as Strength by The Alarm just for some U.K. comparison...Brothers in Arms...

(to be fair, also bad moon rising, hell awaits, and king of rock...)

scott seward, Thursday, 21 November 2024 19:25 (one month ago) link


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