Song of the Week – Just Like Honey, The Jesus and Mary Chain

IGNORED OBSCURED RESTORED

Back in the mid/late 80s SPIN magazine was a hip alternative to Rolling Stone for people interested in “alternative” rock music. I subscribed for a number of years and credit the publication for turning me on to a number of great artists and albums. You have to remember that this was before the days of file sharing, Pandora or Spotify. Back then you only heard about great new music via word of mouth, radio or published articles/reviews.

One album in particular that I credit SPIN for alerting me to is Psychocandy by The Jesus and Mary Chain. The group was featured in an article about Scottish bands in the April 1986 issue. You can read it starting on page 29 of the link below.

Spin Magazine – April 1986

Then check out the ad on page 38.

The SotW is “Just Like Honey” from Psychocandy.

In an 1985 article in The Face, Max Bell described the JAMC sound beautifully:

“The Jesus And Mary Chain certainly make a fine racket. Guitars are pitched to distortion, feedback snarls, rhythms filter through to create a polyphonic and massive effect. Yet within this healthy maelstrom lurk conventional melody lines, whose impurities are matched by their catchiness.”

Yes indeed. I think of “Just Like Honey” as the melding of Spector’s Wall of Sound – it also utilizes Hal Blaine’s famous opening drum phrase from the Ronettes “Be My Baby” – Brian Wilson’s earliest, most innocent Beach Boys anthems, and The Velvet Underground’s distortion and feedback.

After more than 30 years, “Just Like Honey” and Psychocandy still sound sweet.

Enjoy… until next week.