Day 143: The Jesus and Mary Chain – Darklands

Album cover courtesy of Blanco y Negro

It wouldn’t really be January without some sort of an infection, would it? I am bedridden, I have low energy and frankly can’t be arsed with much other than lying in bed watching films, so I wanted low-effort music and low-effort writing. I thought I’d go for an artist I’ve done before, so I thought I’d choose one of my favourite new discoveries, the Jesus and Mary Chain.

I previously reviewed their 1985 debut Psychocandy and gave it a 9.5, so my expectations were already reasonably high. The group managed to release a legendary first record and followed it up with something that was true to their sound, but just sharper and more polished – on Darklands, they’ve dialled down the distortion and leaned heavier on their pop influences.

When Darklands was released in 1987, drummer Bobby Gillespie had left as their drummer to front Primal Scream, and their swashbuckling manager Alan McGee had parted ways with them. The band was feeling the pressure to follow it up with something equally good but different, as told by Jim Reid:

It seemed to us that we’d done Pyschocandy and everybody wanted us to do Pyschocandy II and we reacted against that. A lot of people said you’ll never follow it up.

But they did follow it up. The lack of distortion and clearer sound leaves more space for the lyrics, and the writing is immaculate. After being branded the new Sex Pistols, the duo took a softer approach on an album where they’re often singing about love, but in a sort of gloomy and maudlin way, but still in a way where it sounds beautiful. One big change that they did with Darklands was recording it with a drum machine after Gillespie’s exit, which isn’t necessarily better but it works with the sharper sound. I could probably listen to this over and over again without getting sick of it.

There’s no one really who sounds like the Jesus and Mary Chain, even today. They followed up Pyschocandy with something that’s different, but just as good and that still sounds like them. Darklands going into the rotation. A strong, strong 9/10.