Reviews (page 7 of 8)
Got bored with this. I feel like I should like this more than I do, which is not much at all.
I don’t really care for the gazing at shoes genre, but this was pretty decent. Won’t be revisiting it though.
It just sounds like alot of loud noise, it sounds really shit. It's just a way shitter version of Joy Division.
This just rules. I have always thought that this band’s music is deceptively simple. Lots of simple, 50s style rock and roll, but through a unique lens. On this listen, I stated to think of what Suicide did and I think there are a lot of similarities, even if the sound is not a one to one connection. Anyway, great album.
I thought it was...good. They throw in a number of different genres - new wave, rock, punk, pop. Decent album that takes you in many different directions.
Very noisy
Not fussed by this
Not sure what that was all about but won't be listening to that again. Guitar sound like the amp is fucked in half the songs.
This is rough. Like really rough. For day 100, I’m disappointed this is what I had to listen to. This is pretty much a cornerstone of shoegaze and noise music history, but damn do I not enjoy it one bit. Think of the most intense, primitive and rough around the edges kind of shoegaze guitar sounds you can think, then multiply them by ten-fold and fill a whole album with them. Some of these songs actually hurt my ears. Like my hearing felt off after listening to them. Prime examples are Taste the Floor and Never Understand. It’s just too distorted and loud. Better shoegaze bands found the balance. It’s so fuzzy and blasted out, what he is actually playing is almost indiscernible. The drummer plays very basic beats. He plays the same beat on multiple songs actually. And the singer has a voice that sounds like it would match a completely different music profile. His voice is so clean and smooth compared to everything else, it throws me off. The only song I can say anything positive about is Cut Dead, since it’s the only one that doesn’t blow my fucking ear drums out. Rating: 2/10
Delightful. This album hits a sweet spot that balances noisy and catchy. Like a cute little dog that won’t stop howling, but in a good way.
This is fun throwback rock and roll with a blown out, feedback laden twist. My only caveat is that after about six songs or so they all start to blend together and sound alike. I think that’s kind of the point, but just a little variation would have been nice.
I hadn’t heard of this band, but they are apparently influential. I liked this alright.
I 'm willing to give noisy stuff a chance. I gave it a chance but won't give it a second chance
I find the songs uneventful and the singer dreary. That said, I remember they created a lot of buzz at CKCU with the younger guitar-oriented crowd, due to the feedback and sonic production. So, I’ll admit that in 1985, this was a new sound, like White Light/White Heat was in 1968.
I hate Shoegaze and this is probably the most unlistenable shoegaze album ever, well apart from the dreck that My Bloody Valentine has released.
Good
i love noise. just walls of sound. just pure sound waves going into my ear snail.
Surprisingly good, thought it was going to be lame but i love the distorted sound combined with the 80s kinda goth vocals. Liked tracks: Just Like Honey, The Living End, Taste The Floor, In a Hole, You Trip Me Up
Had high expectations. Disappointing.
Lärmteppich
Best Song: Cut Dead. At least they cut off the fuzz for this track. Worst Song: You Trip Me Up. Love a song where feedback and distortion take centre stage and the musicians are relegated to just background players. Overall: Just toneless talking over an unending, annoying buzzing. The musical equivalent of trying to maintain a conversation with a heavily self-medicated hitchhiker as your car hurtles down the highway with all the windows open and no, no matter how much you ask, he won't speak any louder. Music for people who hate dynamic range. Music for wasps.
I saw the date of the album and was worried I would hate it but it was actually pretty decent. Not shocking they still have a following 40 years later.
Cool movie mood music
Loved these guys back in the day, a couple of Scottish lads heavily influenced by the Ramones and The Velvet Underground, and they produced a fab rock album in the mid 80s that has stood the test of time.
Bof, c'était du rock saturé assez quelconque
Not for me
Very new wave/punky, felt very screechy at times, not many songs in particular stood out to me, but good vibe in general, 3/5.
Slept on this for way too long. NOISY. MELLOWDRAMATIC. SHOEGAZEY.
Not my style
I can't get past the feeling that I'm in a large empty underground carpark with the (perfectly capable) band set up in a small alcove 200 feet away and some heavy industrial cutting tools working between us. I guess that at least makes this record evocative.
Good, I guess, every song sounds like the other though. Oh you guys like Sonic Youth, that's cool, you're not as good.
Tämä on vuodelle 1985 jotain jota tämä vuosi ei olisi kaivannut. Jotain, jonka tämä vuosi olisi voinut olla ottamatta vastaan. Ja sinä juotavana päivänä se kävi näin. Astuttiin toimistoon sisään ja odotettiin odotushuoneessa. - Sisään! - -- - Istukaa olkaa hyvä. - -- - Jahas - -- - Ja kaikki näyttäisi olevan kunnossa. Leimasin kävi ja se painoi: [1 - 9 - 8 - 5] -merkin passiin. - Olette vapaa. - -- - -- Kiitos. Toinen subjekti. Toinen paikka. Toinen hetki. Vuosi 1985, myöhäisyksy. Aamu. Herätys. Hän ja hänen kokemuksensa. Hänen silmäänsä tunkivähän päivänvaloa jostain katon rajasta, mutta alempana,missä hän lepäsi, oli vielä puolihämärä. Hän tajusi sen. Tämä on shoegaze, tämä on uuden alku, ja tulevaisuudessa pop ja äänet voidaan liittää paremmin yhteen. Niitä ei tarvitse soittaa erillisenä, toistaan päällekkäisinä kokonaisuuksina ja kutsua sitä yhdeksi, sillä todella kyse on kahdesta. (Albumin cover itseironiikkaa parhaimmillaan) Albumi alkaa matalalentoa, Just like honey biisillä ja loppuu yhtä alhaalla Its so hard kappaleella Lana del ray tyyliteltyine tuskahduksineen. Matalalennon ja yksinkertaiset pop soundit yhdistettynä komplekseihin noise raitoihin.. Nothing like it..
Glad I listened, but this one was pretty challenging to get through. The distortion will probably keep it from being a repeat listen, but can definitely hear this band in other groups. It's not for me though.
pleasant enough album, a little samey but enjoyable. A very nice noise
hard listen
Psychocandy is mostly a lot of noise, noise that doesn’t seem to go anywhere. A lot of the songs are completely lifeless. I respect that the distorted, washed out guitars were a big influence of many of the late 80s/early 90s bands that I did love but the lifelessness is just too much 3.7/10
This album ripped. I love the heavy reverb guitar that you find in the noise pop/shoegaze bands from this era. This was a delight after a stretch of pretty middling album selections on this.
My brother in christ, you took extremely mid songs and stuck belt sanders and reverb over the top of them. So much that it hurts to listen with headphones. Utter bullshit. I don't have time for this.
Here Comes Alice sounds straight up like it would be from my favorite teen coming of age movie.
Interesting proto-shoegaze vibes
Oh what a beautiful record. End to end sparse and lush. Love it and loved it again after all these years.
TL;DR: Porcaria. Quando ouvi a primeira música e vi que ela era, de longe, a mais famosa do álbum, já fiquei com medo. Já vi que seriam longos 42 minutos... Que som terrível o dessa primeira música, parece que foi gravado com um Nokia em um banheiro gigante. Odiei esse efeito que usaram. Desconfortável de ouvir. Ok, aparentemente o som terrível não é exclusivo só da primeira música.. Agora entendi porque a primeira é de longe a música com mais reproduções. É porque é o que todo mundo que veio escutar o álbum conseguiu suportar. Passar da primeira é um desafio que nem todos são capazes. Ah vai tomar no cu essa 6 - In a Hole cara. Quem foi o filho da puta que colocou essa distorção bicho. Tô ficando PUTO com esse álbum. No final da 8 - Some Candy Talking parece até que tem um erro no último segundo dela. Vazou um som completamente perdido. Editaram essa bosta á moda caralha. A 13 - You Trip Me Up tem literalmente microfonia a música toda. Tem som de microfonia... Eles acharem que isso seria uma boa ideia.... Colocar microfonia numa música... Ai cara... Na 14 acho que talvez eles tenham percebido o lixo que tava ficando esse álbum, daí veio a ideia do nome dela. E pra fechar, a 15 foi claramente nomeada em homenagem a todos que conseguiram chegar até o final do álbum. Ao menos eles reconhecem. Bom, é isso.. Tive que parar no meio do álbum e colocar alguma música que eu já conhecia pra ter certeza que não era meu fone que tinha estragado. Acho que esse foi o pior álbum que já ouvi na minha vida. Literalmente me deu dor de cabeça. Quem foi o puto que escutou isso e pensou "Olha, acho que dá pra publicar, vai dar boa". Tinha que levar uma surra. Acabou com o meu dia. Preferia ter escutado um álbum do Sorriso Maroto.
i don't understand how someone can call this an album that everyone should listen to. what exactly should I be listening for because all I hear is noise
I would have rather shoved firecrackers in my ears
hello i am a listening note
Way too sober for this
Not the worst.
Loved this back I the day but not sure how relevant it is today.
Indie rock. Tostón monótono. Un 2.
Next time, I’ll just play white noise over The Cure songs
Not surprised the first track was the most popular, but an OK listen
I have an unusual relationship with Psychocandy. On the one hand, it's a seminal breakthrough album for The Jesus and Mary Chain. It introduced to a wider mainstream audience shoegazer and, especially, the unique JMC sound of pop songs drenched in feedback and noise. On the other hand, compared to their previous singles, it's timid. It is more pop than noise. Compared to singles such as Boyfriend's Dead, which features the wailing lyric of "Dead! He's dead!" under intense droning noise, anything on Psychocandy feels tame. Of course, they started to drop the noise in favor of the pop sounds afterwards so, this is still better than their later albums. For me, it represents the beginning but not the final act in the dumbing down of JMC.
At the end of the album, my Spotify put on a new song at random and I immediately knew Psychocandy had finished because I was enjoying the new song.
I’ve tried to listen to Psychocandy many times in the past, and I’ve never got past track 4. I love Just Like Honey, but I think that’s probably because it’s the only track that really truly lives up to the name Noise Pop. Taking the iconic opening to Be My Baby, adding heavily feedbacking guitars and a new catchy melody. That’s lightning in a bottle. And then they do it again on Sowing Seeds. But it’s less good. In fact a lot of the songs on this album feel as if they’re just rehashes of previous songs with more distortion. You Trip Me Up uses the riff to Blitzkrieg Bop, Taste the Floor sounds exactly like the Stooges. The influences are there, and they’re influences that I really like, but they’ve never been truly reconciled themselves to me. I love a lot of what came before Psychocandy, I love a lot of what it influenced. But as a stepping stone, The Jesus and Mary Chain always just slipped for me
Maybe need to relisten to this one but it was solid but not really that great outside of just like honey, which I think is still a tad overrated. I still heavily respect what it is especially for the time period.
Not my cup of tea.
Way too much distortion for my liking, muddied the vocals which lessened the end product, it's a no from me.
Not a fan of how they "sing" or the style in which they sing. I'm fine with experimental noise rock/music, but that's if the singing or whatever else the noise accompanies is actually enjoyable. This fucking sucks. This is a low 2/5, honestly might even be a 1
Generic. Nothing remarkable or memorable. Did not dislike but don't find myself clamoring to listen to more.
Other comments pointing out that this kind of lo-fi fuzz effect was basically Not Done when this released. Which is pretty cool, but there's stuff around these days that executes better on that vision I think
Interesting sound, some of the hooks are pretty good too, although nothing stands out as musically challenging
Just fucking noise, cant listen to this shit any more.
Dig it, but most of the songs sound very similar. 3.5/5
There’s lots of noisy indie out there. What elevates this one above the rest is partly how early it is, but more importantly how abrasive the noise on this album gets. There were multiple times when I listened to it that I was taken aback by an instance of feedback starting a song. Gnarly!
Så bra sound men alla låtar är tyvärr inte hitz
This album would be so much better if they just turned the overdrive down a but, but then I guess it wouldn't be a Jesus and Mary Chain album. It's OK.
Sekava kokonaisuus joka tavoittelee vähän kaikkea, muttei saavuta mitään. Semisti vitutti kuunnella...
Hälyä, skebat kuraa. Mut ihan paskaa ei kuitenkaan
2nd one from The Jesus and Mary Chain Not too long ago I realized that I'm more fond of the Pixies & Dinosaur Jr. albums I heard from this website than when I first heard them. Now... Psychocandy joins the list of noisy 80's alt records I'm not 100% sure about. My first impression is that I enjoyed this more than Darklands, despite the abrasiveness. Occasionally the distortion was a bit upsetting, not unlike what initially turned me off of Lightning Bolt and Big Black. It could also be that I'm warming to the overall sound of J&MC, not that this is leagues better than their other one. I heard the sunny 60s pop through the haze loud and clear, and I appreciated it. HL: "Just Like Honey", "The Living End", “The Hardest Walk”, "You Trip Me Up" 3.5 for now September 14, 2023 PS: I read that the drummer went on to form Primal Scream, which means that guy's on this list at least 3 times
It's a weak 3, but it's pleasant enough. This was more interesting than Darklands, but I probably ended up liking it less. Some parts didn't sound great or ended up being boring, but I didn't dislike it. My favourite song was Just Like Honey.
Brilliant sound! Love it! 4/5
Nice album! I wish these came with some color commentary providing the context of the album itself. Like listening to this it feels standard, but I’m sure its because it defined a sub genre of music when it was released, so that would be nice.
This feels like some early industrial
Really an album that was ahead of it's time, lovely pop songs with the most insane wall of guitar noise you'll hear. Just Like Honey is a stone cold classic, but there's plenty more to enjoy. The juxtaposition of the harsh noise with the sweet pop tunes is such a fun combination. Better than I remember from the last time I heard the album.
This is another record that had inch thick dust on my hard drive, one that ricocheted off me thirty years ago: I was disappointed by the promised noise (how could this be compared to Sonic Youth?) and unimpressed by the tunes (sounds old so very old). I'm charmed now, especially by the opener, but something about its self-consciousness reins in my enthusiasm. To a Velvets' Candy, we add a Cindy; we hear a motorbike; we see a creepy Spector behind the desk. I know he was just a Ringo for hire, but perhaps the knowledge of what Bobby Gillespie was to become has tainted my appreciation of Psychocandy.
better than Darklands, still the most over-rated band of their era
A bit discordant for my tastes. But it’s fine.
4.0
Jotenkin mä en niin rakasta tällästä kenkiintuijottelurokkia mutta on tämä genressään ihan hyvä. Keskihyvät bongot sen takia. 3/3
Legendaarinen ja hieno levy parhaimmillaan. Mutta jostain syystä veto loppuu aina jossain kohtaa, kun kuuntelen, niin jääköön kolmeen. Sama ongelma oikeastaan myös bändin tokalla levyllä.
Hyviä biisejä ja tykkään kyllä saundista, mutta ei ehkä ihan koko levyllistä jaksa kantaa. Jotain ravistelua vielä olis jääny kaivaa. 3/5
If an aspiring rock n' roller in 1965 decided to take a twenty year nap, wake up in 1985 and booked a ticket to Glasgow, Scotland, this is what he would sound like. Psychocandy is a fever dream and then some put to wax. In a quest to spot and secure the future, it was fit to best represent the past and then-present with drainpipe jeans, leather jackets and unruly hair. All the while crafting music that mixed Phil Spector, the deepest depths of feral rock and roll and Glasgweian force. It is no surprise that Psychocandy is what many think of when they hear of The Jesus and Mary Chain. All you need to hear, when it comes to why, is that first song. Perhaps the finest and most pivotal hour for one of Glasgow's finest bands. Play it loud as nature intended.
I am not into noise rock. Half this album was unlistenable noise. But they do cool work and you can hear they are so close to the shoe gaze guitar noise loop that got big. There’s melody behind the noise and if the loops were a little less fierce it might be an A+ album.
Okay, little bit over the top at points and I wish the vocals were more prominent
The Velvet Underground influence is very clear and plain to see, particularly in the vocals and the guitar styling, but the soundscapes that it creates are heavier and more psychedelic. I really loved it
Het zal vast invloedrijk zijn, maar om gewoon voor je lol te gaan luisteren? Nee bedankt. Door de enorme distortion is er weinig muziek te herkennen.
Psychocandy stays beautiful. This listen, it's quite vast and rectangular. By the end, bees and their foliage are swallowed by the sea. Funny touch, the ocean here. The surf feel comes rather loud and clear, but it's a weird way to characterize Scottish coasts. Impressively fast for slow music.
I actually really like the production! But the songwriting isn't really memorable at all
Don’t think I’m into the whole noise rock thing. They’re an OK indie pop band covered in feedback noise for no apparent reason. I guess there’s something there with the contrast between soft melody and harsh noise, but it didn’t stick for me. Best song: The Hardest Walk
The combination of pretty standard 80s pop (with a nostalgic twang) and post-punk distortion works better than expected and is interesting enough. 3.5 rounded up.
The opening song is good - it was used in the movie, "Lost In Translation". But overall, the band uses WAAAAAY too much distortion. I get the idea of doing this for one or two songs, but not an entire album.
I remember hearing a few songs by the Jesus and Mary Chain back in my college days, but I don't have clear memories of which songs I heard. I'm glad this album came up in the rotation today. Nice to give it a full listen-through. When I hear these tracks and think back to year it was released (1985), I get why it's considered such an influential album -- the years that followed, many years, featured quite a number of bands that sounded like this. The music is very good. I like the blend of pop, rock, almost metal (at least as far as heavy distortion and grinding guitar sound goes), with the harbingers of shoegaze and similar sounds (due to their use of feedback and other effects). They even bring in a bit of rockabilly sound with Never Understand. Cool stuff.
Grunge / alternative long before it became popular. Its influence is present in bands like Nirvana et al. 3.5/5
Good
If this were made during peak ear rape era, all the 7th-grade meme lords would play this non-stop.
Probably one of the worst things I've heard maybe ever? This actually made me angry honestly like some of the most grating shit lmao.
This one was a bit of a difficult listen... not because the lyrics were deep or got me bad but because there was so many effects over the instruments I couldn't hear what was going on. Taste the Floor specifically was a tricky one. Stand out songs: - Tinitus: I now have it - The Hardest Walk: Legitimately was a good song ngl - Sowing Seeds: A nice (comparatively) peaceful song - My Little Underground: It's easy to see
This had a very familiar quality to it, but I'm not sure if I've ever actually heard any of their songs before. Overall, it was okay. I didn't mind it but doubt I would listen again. Interesting mix of grunge and punk, despite whatever the official genre is.
This was a good listen, pretty hazy 80s rock that has stood the test of time
I can't give this a full 4 stars because there isn't a standout song, but I do like The Jesus and Mary Chain vibe a lot. There are a few songs I love - like Head On - but mostly I love how drenched in reverb all of this is. I don't know, I like. Sue me.
Fully expected to dislike this, but man, I was wrong. From the initial Ronettes-by-way-of-Hell drumbeat that intros 'Just Like Honey' (a trick repeated on 'Sowing Seeds') through to the dark pulse of 'It's So Hard', this was a thoroughly enjoyable listen. Not a genre I have much familiarity with, but this sounds like a kissing cousin to a wing of the goth family. There are some decent tunes buried beneath the fuzz, but actually the noise is the star of the show - vast, towering waves of sound washing over proceedings. It's a 'big' sounding album too, right? Cavernous and gloomy, music of the night. A pleasant surprise.
Kinda in line with Craig, here. The vibe is great. There's shades of The Velvet Underground in here, but it always seems to avoid the total experimental excess in favor of shorter, poppier songs. I wish I remembered more of them, but yeah that first track is a real standout. Still can't believe I saw them at Lolapalooza '92 in the middle of the day. I can imagine that had I first experienced them (and their big hair) in a darkened club they would have had a much greater impact on me. Nonetheless, I need to do a deeper dive on this band at some point.
Not a big fan of this sound.
Love the first song, not so much the rest.
Didn’t enjoy 👎🏻
Nostalgic to hear this album again. Saw them live back in the day, though never a huge fan
3/5. Honestly, thought this would be something I couldn’t get into but it was quite enjoyable. Sure, definitely requires a specific mood but the ability to mix drone with pop is wild and yet works so well. Definitely gonna throw this one on again. A unique and interesting album.
RAUTAA. VAI. ROSKAA? no roskaa... vokaalit, rummutus, kitarat, bassot, sanoitukset, miksaus, masteraus, äänet kuntoon niin voidaan harkita respektfullia kakkosta voin vaikka ylläpidolle huikata että vaihtaa mutta tämä luolarecording on täyttä paskaa yksi biisi toistetaan 27 kertaa tylsäsää niin vitun tylsää. Seppo, tämä on roskaa. you trip me up
Warm and fuzzy
Great sounding album. I really enjoyed it
Interesting music, not entirely sure I love it, but definitely want to relisten. 3.3
One of my personal favourites. I can still remember how it was to listen to it for the first time. And it still amazes me
Quality 90s noise rock
Too lofi to be enjoyable
Great debut album. Love the distorted guitar and synths. Love the haunting vocals and dark lyrics. Whole several songs felt like a variation on a theme, it worked really well.
Well. This has surprisingly caused some emotions stir in my cold dark soul. Nothing crazy or anything. Imagine like a little stick figure slowly pick up a stick and poke at a little spot on the ground a few times. More like that. The reverb and distortion’s wall of sound is relaxing in a strange way. Without these sound manipulations, the actual music would be terrible. But the noisy chaos somehow adds an intangible for where two shitty things come together to create this other thing with a greater sum than the parts. A textured richness that shouldn’t work. But it kind of does. Kind of.
Just ok. I feel like it work listening to them.
I’m glad I listened to all of mbv albums before this because I definitely would not have appreciated this album as much had I not come around to shoegaze through their albums. This one is a bit more pop forward that the mbv albums and it’s not nearly as good overall. Nothing offensively bad but nothing really standout.
I was disappointed with this Long wanted to give them a listen as lots of artists I like were influenced by them But I found this to be a good sound that wore thin over the course of an album
I was very excited for this, but I can't help but feel... a bit let down? I was very happy with Darklands, and the idea of an earlier, noisier, shoegaze-inspiring version of that (and critically acclaimed, nonetheless) had me stoked. But the songwriting just wasn't there for me. I came away from it having enjoyed it, but it just didn't leave much of an impact on me. Maybe this was a had-to-be-there thing, and now that I've heard the music it's spawned it just doesn't work as well for me. Oh well.
A little boring if we are being honest, but the moments it had that shined really hit me.
It's pretty bloody great all said and told.
"white noise", super constant background wall of distorted guitar. Surprisingly mellow, despite that
Some ok, but mostly nah
I thought it was boring, felt like ive heard it before even though I never heard of this band.
Just Like Honey is just such a comforable feeling song. Like putting on your favourite jumper. I'll need to spend some more time with this album to figure out what other tracks I like, both sessions felt like the rest of the album just faded into the background (in a good way).
Yes! YES! Blast me with feedback! Wash away my consciousness with squalls of jagged noise! Sonically flatten me! I like this more than "Darklands", which I replayed so as to compare and contrast. "Darklands" is much more conventionally sounding post-punk, but this - tis is gorgeous noise pop. Fave track - "You Trip Me Up", followed closely by "Just Like Honey"
good stuff. I thought these guys were more of a 90s band but I guess Just Like Honey had staying power and we still listening to it in the 90s
Wonderful grungy punk
started out meh and got worse. i dont want a headache
This is another album added to the evert confusing list of how is this must listen to music. Much of this was hard to understand as the instrumentals took over most of the sound. It was a little weird and overall not that enjoyable. It bewilders me the choices of albums on this list yet here we are. Not gonna revisit this one. 3.9/10
Catapaulted back to early 80s. Good digital distortion production. But everything sounded the same.
Musical noise. I like it.
It feels like the only reason anyone still talks about this band is because Sofia Coppola immortalized "Just Like Honey" by using it in Lost In Translation. There ain't a whole lot to work with after that song.
Melodic guitar pop songs under a squall of feedback. A different approach! Very english mid 1980s indie/alternative rock. Influential. Worth hearing once.
I'd heard some of these tracks, didn't know who they were.
Fine ⛓️
With (most) of the rest of you. 5/5. I remember when it came out and it sounding like nothing else out there. Still holds up.
Brilliant noise pop.
Fuzzy, swirly, lovely, screechy, goodness. Hugely influential to me. 5 / 5 stars.
In het begin vond ik het wat saai, maar naarmate het vorderde, werd dat precies wat beter
Four or five times I played this on Spotify and after two or three songs it just became part of the background noise and I really didn't think of it until after Spotify jumped to completely new songs and I remembered that I was supposed to be appreciating this album. So, completely forgettable.
Screechy, awful noise. I can see where some might say that this resembles music in some way, but I'm definitely not one of those. This was hard to tolerate at best.
I was recommended The Jesus and Mary Chain several years ago and never followed up. After I listened to Darklands I kicked myself over having missed years of listening to this band. Having listened to their second album first, I was glad to see that their first was just as good, with them having fully fledged out their sound and not needing to go through a growing pain period.
I tried to listen to the ‘beach boy’ melody underneath the screeching sounds and didn’t get anywhere.
Holy reverb batman 2.5
Very pleasant generation. Was a bit sceptical at first viewing, but good album
Sempre belli
I've liked some of The Jesus and Mary Chain's music, though it can sound like noise to me. Still, this is a seminal album due to the shoegaze and how they were one of the first bands to effectively mix pop and noise. This isn't a perfect album, as it may be a bit long, but it's an album I think a person would need to hear.
An absolute classic, beautiful noise rock that paved the path for so many great bands the following years.
Top tunes, weird sound great stuff
Sublime
Bit dour
Hadn't listened to this before, enjoyed it, but the frequent underlying distortion got too unsettling. 3.5
OMG - takes me right back!
It started to bleed together and sound too similiar to give it more than average
Probably could have been some good songs but for the mixing. Everything sounds to be on the same level, except the vocals which appear to be emanating from somewhere in a steal tank. Sounds like you’ve gone to a concert only to spend the whole time in the lavatory next door.
Heard of but never heard this band. Enjoyed this record, would go back for more
Darklands is better. But still rules
Lots of white noise and feedback that generally doesn't satisfy my brain. There's already enough noise in my noggin, this only amplifies that.
The all-high-end guitar grunge just doesn't sit well with me. I tried without headphones and it was next to impossible. Headphones give me a better picture of the soundscape, but still.... The hardest walk, candy, enjoyable.
Like 7000 nails on a chalkboard. 3/10
Versta er niets van door die versterkte gitaar die letterlijk overal doorheen schreeuwt. Komt ook geen einde aan, geen idee waarom je dit gehoord zou moeten hebben
Wat een herrie
Eerste echte noise album die we krijgen in de lijst denk ik? Ik was al bekend met de band en wat nummers, dit is de eerste keer dat ik een album hoor, en vind het nice. In A Hole denk ik m’n fav. Geen 5 want de mastering klinkt een beetje gek, of het is de compressie ofzo idk. Daarom 4.5
So the first thing I noticed was the heavy distorted screeching guitar sounds in many of the songs. The same type of sound used by Velvet Underground. A few songs seem to have that lyrical/vocal style of Velvet too, most notably Cut Dead. I listened to this album at work, then at the gym last night and I really enjoyed most of it. Sometimes the lyrics were difficult to understand, but the overall style and sound was good for me. I liked most of their songs. Enough to listen to a couple of their other albums, after working out. For that alone, they earn a bonus 1/2 point from me. These guys are solid and hard to pick a favorite. I was going to list the songs I liked and realized I have 9 of the 14, so I feel this is a pretty good album and will definitely revisit and check out more of their other stuff. Interesting note, Spotify just added this album to their library in the last few days. I was going to listen to a bunch of albums over the weekend and couldn't find the Madness album or this one, yet her it was yesterday. Or I'm just batshit crazy. 3.5 Will score a 3, but probably cloaser to 4 than the 3
1 This one wasn’t on streaming so I had to find a YouTube rip. I’m unsure of how much of my perception s were influenced by that. There seems to be a lot of folk and post-punk/goth on this list and I gotta be honest, the sound of harmonizing can openers is starting to wear on me. This album has occasional high points where a melody peeks through or rhythms are allowed to rest but I just don’t hear much of difference between this and say, Joy Division, Velvet Underground, The Cure, Echo & the Bunnymen etc. When it doesn’t sound like a vacuum cleaner that’s clogged this is just OK, and that in the loosest possible sense. The back half has a little more to dig into but all in all I feel like a band was playing in the basement of a some kind of workshop and the mic was upstairs. Almost unlistenable.
3.5 Will’s going to think I’m crazy for this one. Sure, it’s a lot of feedback. Sure, the production is far from clean. But buried in that rough exterior is absolute pop charm, and I think it’s the balance of the two that really makes this album remarkable. I can see how this would be majorly influential on the genre of shoegaze or even alternative rock - I’m pretty sure these guys were major influences on the Pixies. Hell, I can even hear elements of modern day lo-fi here (I swear Something’s Wrong sounds just like a lo-fi version of Ceremony by New Order). I’m not sure there’s much more I can say to explain exactly why I enjoyed this album, but overall there’s just a certain alternative/anti-mainstream expression that really speaks to me. I will admit, as is often the case with shoegaze, it starts running together as it goes on, but it was never anything I got sick of at any point in the 40 minute runtime. Just Like Honey was an absolutely fantastic tune though, so I’ll definitely be listening to that again if not the full album.
I actually don't enjoy this album as much as I used to, which is surprising because I still listen to a good bit of noise rock. There was a time when Just Like Honey was one of my favourite songs, and I still like that and quite a few of the others on here. I just find their wall of noise to be a bit oppressive and monotonous after a while. Having said that, it's undeniably a hugely influential and important record. I wouldn't be surprised if I warm to it again at some point.
Kinda the quintessential noise pop album. Has some amazing tracks, but also some filler. Still great!
"Pyschocandy" is the debut album by the Scottish rock band The Jesus and Mary Chain. It is considered a landmark recording of guitar and noise with a pop melody. That's a good description. It was also influential for the future genres of shoegaze and alternative rock. More on that later. The band was brothers Jim and William Reid (guitar, vocals), Douglas Hurt (bass) and Bobby Gillespie (drums and soon to be leader of Primal Scream). There were many bands listed as influences/influential including The Velvet Underground, The Stooges, The Stones, Einstürzende Neubauten but the band standing out for me is Suicide. The drum bang and those anthemic guitar chords strike up "Just Like Honey." Jim Reid almost whispering. Great backing vocals at the end by Karen Parker. An 80's alternative classic. Is it about the difficulty of going back to someone and admit you're wrong or oral sex. Let's say both. I have to admit the first song that got me into this band was hearing "The Hardest Walk" in the movie "Some Kind of Wonderful." Let's hear it for John Hughes in the 80's. It's more melodic pop: the best example of this on the album. A searing guitar solo. Obviously about walking away from someone. "Taste of Candy" gets us back to the echo, constant white noise, feedback and a simple beat. A darker tone probably about taking speed. A lot of these songs are about taking drugs or at least you could draw that conclusion. The first single "Never Understand" starts with feedback but goes to a pop melody. About drugs and self-abusive behavior. A screeching, white noise, feedback, long ending. Suicide in the studio. The second single "You Trip Me Up" continues with the feedback and a guitar sounding like a buzzsaw. It's about....well, you know. The album ends with the Suicide-esque "It's So Hard." Haunting and whispering vocals. Mechancal noises. More feedback. There's a lot to like about this album. Short songs, none longer than 14 minutes, get to the point. The mix of guitar being louder than the vocals almost making them indecipherable but more mysterious. There is an obvious direct line from Suicide to The Jesus and Mary Chain to the shoegaze genre. And I'm a big shoegaze fan. I like their subsequent albums but none reach "Psychocandy" heights.
For years I have heard this band talked about in various circles but I have never explored them. Yet another excuse to finally jump in. A review I read about this album was pretty spot on: Beach Boys meets Velvet Underground. I think my major issue with this album is how incredibly piercing it is. It's like my ears are constantly being bombarded by a thousand tiny needles. Like "In A Hole" straight up sounds like the shower is running while someone is playing guitar. That is all I hear. A band rehearsing in the bathroom. A band playing music but the radio can't quite pick up the station so it's muddied by static. I don't really understand the appeal of this type of sound. It is relatively unpleasant in every way. For the most part the songs themselves are fine, albeit a little boring in my opinion. I liked "The Hardest Walk" and I have heard "Just Like Honey" maybe about a dozen times on algorithmic radio stations in the past but I think I may just need to listen to this album more for it to grow on my. I feel a real lay out in the sun by the beach vibe with a lot of these songs so maybe if I channel that scene I can be in the right place to enjoy this record. "Cut Dead" is for sure a sleepy nappy sun drenched afternoon track. I definitely see how this band (this album specifically?) inspired music to come. Especially the 2010s resurgence of lofi. I am sure there is some article out there that calls them the grandfathers of shoegaze (and I am sure in the comment section someone is saying "But what about [XYZ Band]'s album [Album Name]?! How could you forget about them?!") Giving this a 3/5 as I actually enjoyed some songs here and there but it just didn't click with me. Another one where I see the cultural significance and understand those who give it a 5 but it just isn't quite for me.
Okay I warmed up mighty fast to this record. At first I’m thinking… ah yes, we’ve heard a lot of post punk music recently. And my brain falls into the same template. But then I realize that there are actual songs buried under here. Sweet songs, endearing songs, innocent songs. And the juxtaposition of the heavy guitar noise… never too much, but always poking through, so you’re aware of it. Like a swarm of intrusive thoughts. I had to get over the mixing (it’s not great), and try to focus. But, buried deep in that haze, there’s something delightful about what’s going on. 4/5.
3.5 if possible. Enjoyable, really can see how they've filtered early 50s rock through 70s and 80s hard fuzz. Probably won't feel the need to revisit.
What's the old line about this album? "Bubblegum pop drowned in feedback?" Seems about right. Good thing I like both bubblegum pop and feedback.
Boring to me. Noisy and depressing
Històric i influència de tantes coses que vindrien després. Feedback a volums de vegades insoportables que amaguen grans melodies pop. Tot i ser excel.lent, ha passat més a la història pel seu caracter revolucionari que perquè realment sigui una obra mestra
It's okay. Walls of fuzz and mumbly melodies. Feel like other bands took this and ran with it better after this, but fair play for a fairly clear fuzzyvision? I do feel that a lot of music journos were so desperate not too like hip hop and dance that they'd hail anything with guitars that was slightly leftfield as the second coming. Beneath the walls of distortion, the songs are alright, as I said. Solid. A bit dull. You can see how McGee found his way from this to O*sis. Bands that are kind of faux interesting for people who like music, but don't truly love it.
Hmmm. I loved Automatic. This one is even higher on the jangle-o-meter. Above my threshold for enjoyment on about a third of the songs.
Bit noisy
It's a good one
Classic 60s pop and psychedelia meets wall of sound, and nails on a chalkboard guitar feedback. Inspired by the past, ‘Psychocandy’ ended up influencing the future. Didn’t grab me instantly but grew on me after a few listens. It will grow on you too.
3/5 Melodic and heavy.
As much as one liked this band in the real-time day, it was only sporadically, a song here, a video there, and some promotional vinyl from college radio, still in one’s possession. And one took J&MC only semi-seriously, as if they’d seem only reverb deep on closer examination; one means – just how edgy could they be, if one liked them, one’s taste often being impugned as “normie” (before that term was a commonplace) by one’s college radio colleagues? All that shows the callow critical tendencies of one’s youth, though the title of the recurs might be seen as a bit of a troll (long before such was named), and perhaps the name of the band seemed a touch too provocative by design. What one hears more clearly now is that the depth is in the hollowness. This record, though not quite as rich as Darklands, holds up well. One limitation is that “Just Like Honey” is the only truly first-rate song here (though perhaps one of the top 20 or 30 of the decade). The innovation lasts thru the influence, one supposes. And, speaking of decades, it says something about the feast of 80s alt-indie-post-punk (whatever) that a band this good and this original remains obscure compared to relative bland-o mediocrities of the ‘90s (lookin at you Blur and Oasis and Nirvana).
Excelente
This is the second album from the list that I've listened to from these guys. This one was better, but still not memorable.
meh
Totally basis review as it’s a Scottish band but also love this album, love the distorted guitars the shoegaze sound and the vocals.
👍🏻 6.5/10
Very good punk find.
some of it just felt like noise but it had a really earnest energy that i liked, especially in the back half. 7/10
5/10. I'm glad they got most of their really grating sounds out of their system on this album
Unplugged amp core but not necessarily bad. 7/10
Good, but the noise gets a bit tiresome.
Alternated between undesirable noise and interesting, catchy melody. Standout is "The Hardest Walk"
what'd they say?
psyco-grangee but a little difficult to listen
The Jesus And Mary Chain are obviously an incredibly influential group. Their debut, filled with oppy noise, laid the groundwork for the shoegaze pandemic of the 90's. 'The Hardest Walk' is a prime example of this. Psychocandy is such a fitting title, because the whole thing is basically sugar sweet melodies drenched in noise and dissonance - starting with the terrific opener 'Just Like Honey'. At times, the noise takes on a too dominant role, as on the duo of 'In a Hole' + 'Taste of Cindy', and although the balance is occasionally perfect ('Sowing Seeds'), it seems to me that the group hadn't quite found the balance between noise and melody that they did on Darklands.
“I sure love pop, but I just can not stand the sugarcoated productions.” Jesus Christ and his mother Mary, are you in luck!
An additional star for a few tracks that were alright, otherwise I found this to be pretty unlistenable.
No wonder its called one of the albums that pioneered the shoegaze movement. I can see the impact left by them on the upcoming bands after them. However, the main problem in this album is the use heavily distorted sound that can really interfere with my listening session. I had to skip some songs just because i cant handle the amount of screeching. But it is still an interesting album though.
Terrible
Just reverb and droning voices that I though was never going to end.
A pinnacle of noisy music that led the way for countless alternative rock subgenres through its employment of high feedback. These songs are creative and exciting, influenced mostly by post-punk contemporaries but also greatly by 60s bright sunshine pop music with its soft drawn-out vocal style and jangly instruments. But for sure their fusion with high feedback is modeled after the Velvet Underground. It's echoey and features subtle effects and instrumental shifts (very reminiscent of shoegaze) which makes for a fun and engaging listen. There are soft beautiful songs and harsh abrasive songs, and although I'm a fan of both styles, it sometimes catches me by surprise, like the sharp transition from "Cut Dead" to "In a Hole". Possibly my only complaint, but a wrong track order is not enough to tear apart my experience here. I'm a fan of nearly every song, which is surprising considering there are 14 of them. But they're short enough that you become intrigued by each concept before moving on to the next, yet none of them sound rushed. They're cute short pop songs full of creative ideas.
4.75
kinda good
Muy largo. No puedo aguantar tanto ruido por mucho tiempo. Just Like Honey es un temazo
Muy de weba
It was a nice shoegaze album with some really nice moments, bur also with couple annoying parts, that had brought the whole experience down. The guitars wall of sound was setting up the atmosphere really well, I think it was a great foundation for a breathtaking piece of music (when comparing it to a band like Deafheaven). Unfortunately, band decided to add a very calm vocal, which wasn't perfect, but also wasn't a real, glaring hole on the album. What was breaking the immersion you felt, created by other instruments, was drumming line. The rhythmic and rather rock'n'roll style of drums was like from a completely different story than the rest of band. I even think that some of the songs were unlistenable because of it. A very big mixed bag. I was thinking it's 2,5 stars, which I usually round up, but in this case I will rather go with a lower end.
I enjoyed this. Will need to listen more closely another time.
Having first heard JAMC live and on the Peel session prior to this, Psycho Candy actually sounded quite quiet at the time and was a bit of a disappointment for that. I wanted that wall of noise to translate to the studio on this album. However, there are some great tunes on here, under the muted, hazy feedback and you can still see what they were TRYING to do. And Never Understand is a classic tune without without the noise. But check out that first Peel session if you haven't heard it.
Melodies, noise and a sense of danger. This album is bloody brilliant. The Spector inspired production teases you with the melodies that are hiding away underneath all that feedback. Psycho Candy was responsible for the reverb on amps being fucked around with in teenage bedrooms throughout the mid 80's. Guilty. At the root of the record are some beautiful songs. The Mary Chain are classic rock 'n' roll: flicking the finger but tearful behind the shades.
Spiky greatness.
early grunge/garage rock its like they wrote a bunch of boring rock and added a shit ton of reverb to it
Wholly unremarkable album, actually skipped one song as it sounded like static? Saved tracks: Just Like Honey, It’s So Hard
I did not like this one as much as the first one I was given to rate (Darklands). It has a definite 80s sound, not a timeless sound. They seem to like surf music as well. It was ok but did not grab my attention much.
Rated Dark Lands as 4 due to a somewhat unfortunate comparison it to this album. Influential album (think Raveonettes, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club etc). Strong pop songs, buried under a big dosis of dust. Due to all the 60s pop references, it has a bit similar feel as those Ramones songs except that Psychocandy is no punk rock.
A little too noisy.
Un peu éthéré pour moi, mais une ambiance dans laquelle je me reconnaissais tout de même
There were moments it was alright, but a lot of the time I was glad I wasn’t wearing headphones.
Nothing special, nothing bad.
Heyrðu, þetta er miklu skemmtilegri plata en hin sem ég heyrði. Hér er söngvarinn mixaður lægra og virkar því ekki eins pirrandi, og feedbackið og melodían virka ágætlega saman. Ég ætla ekki að sækjast eftir þessu, en þetta er allt í lagi.
This album sounds like complete garbage. An abuse of distortion and reverb in the production, took away all hope from the songs. Some parts are punk, others 80s pop, but who knows, it’s hard to hear clearly.
Rather annoying back and forth between punk and new wave but overall not bad enough to warrant 2 stars
Not my type
Distinctive sound. 80’s punk. Like Psych Furs.
Not bad, some fun moments in between all the haze. Noisy stuff is a bit much to be super enjoyable. Best tracks: the hardest walk, just like honey, sowing seeds
You can hear some of the influences on later alternative music, but the album itself isnt anything outstanding or particularly special. Its aggressively average. 3/5
Just Like Honey was a great start to this album, but this was unfortunately also the albums only strength. The rest of the album sounded the same, so the album got old really fast.
I will confess, I was one of those people who really liked early Jesus and Mary chain. I fell out with them when my friends went to a gig that lasted 15 minutes and the band had their backs turned to them. I thought that was just insulting and didn’t really listen to them for a lot of years afterwards. When I hear them now, I still actually enjoy the music. They are a second rate Velvet Underground, a faux Television but just because a handbag is a knock off. It doesn’t mean that you don’t necessarily like it. There are some good catchy songs behind all the noise. It’s taken me a long time but I think I’ve forgiven them.
Meh - not for me
I didn’t listen to this band in 1985 because they weren’t in the Top 40 or in heavy rotation on MTV. I watched a lot of MTV and don’t remember them being played at all. Later on, when I did hear about them it was from a friend who was super pretentious and so I didn’t listen to them on principle. I like them. Sometimes a bit too much feedback but mostly a good balance of dissonance and melody. Also, I thought they were from Lancaster, PA. When looking them up today to verify that, I learned that they are not. They are Scottish and their genre was called Shoegazing. That’s a new one for me. The beginning of Sowing Seeds sounds like the beginning of Concrete Blonde’s Joey. I really like the band Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and one of the reviews I read said that Jesus and Mary Chain was an influence on them, so thanks JAMC. Lastly, do you think it is possible that they meant to put Jesus Christ Superstar on this list instead of the Jesus and Mary Chain?
I have already heard this a million times. Anyone who has never heard this before will probably rate it a 1, but back in 1986 this sounded like nothing I had ever heard before. My friends as I were obsessed with this album. Some hard bands were noisy, but this was just noise as music. But under the noise, there are genuine pop songs and hooks buried in there. This is the record all the showgazing bands of the 90s cited as an influence. In short, a masterpiece.
I thought something must be wrong with the streaming service. What could make an album sound so terrible? Looks like this was the band's intention. It's unlistenable.
There was a time when I had more patience for music like this. But then again, I never really loved J&MC as much as the bands they inspired. Their sound always irked me. Too much high-pitched noise drowning out whatever the hell is going on underneath. I can take it for a song or two maybe, but a whole album? Nah. Give me Medicine or My Bloody Valentine over these guys. Anyway, I think here is where I gripe about the ridiculousness of giving an album one rating. I feel like there should be four criteria. 1) How well are they succeeding in pulling off their artistic endeavors? 2) How much do I like this? 3) How much does it belong on this list? 4) Random other contributing factor. On that scale, I give this album a score of 4, 1, 3, and Highly influential. Or I can just give it a 2 and be done with it. The other day, I gave Tommy a 2, which I think isn't fair. According to my new system, its rating should be: 4, 2, 3, and Highly influential.
The Jesus and Mary Chain from the early 90's didn't interest me all that much. Psychocandy is different. I won't say I love this album, but I was surprised how thoroughly enjoyable it was to listen to. I played it twice. I know a lot of people complain about the noise of it all, but I found it to be comforting. I can't describe exactly how it makes me feel, but something like nostalgic, but without that thing to feel nostalgic about. I don't know, this was a good one.
Kind of impressed by this, especially the fact that this sound existed in the mid-80's. It instantly made me think of The Raveonettes, who wouldn't form for another 15+ years. Unfortunately, I find it exhausting, but I enjoyed the first half of the album before my ears wore out.
Texture can be a very powerful thing. Sometimes texture can even overpower the underlying structure. As in food, where you might enjoy the flavor of something, but if the texture is off-putting, it can ruin the whole experience. With that analogy in mind, I can see why this album causes some people to have strong reactions. I for one enjoy the combination of abrasive texture and bubblegum hooks. If they were purely abrasive through and through, it would simply be repellent, but, since they pair it with such sweet, vaguely nostalgic melodies, it becomes a really compelling mixture. I admire their ability to take these almost skeletal little ditties and build such dense atmospheres around them that they feel practically cavernous.
I like their general schtick of noisy-rock but the rest of the sound is just okay for me. It's kind of like the songwriting/singing of the 80s mixed with the 90s punk-noisey rock. Definitely some interesting things going on and it's good, but I wish I liked it more.
I like 'Just Like Honey' a lot, but this album is too echoey.
shoegazing not amazing
I suspect this may need further listens to appreciate fully. I certainly found it a challenge but I liked that here was a band just ploughing their own field, not remotely interested in being easy to listen to, covered in distortion.
Noise pop
One of my all time fave albums
Thought this was going to be a 4 before listening to it again today, especially after Darklands proved to be plodding in places 35 years on. But this sounds just as sharp as it did when I bought it on release. A superb blend of the most basic elements, and I should listen to it more often.
Aptly name album.
Lukewarm. More of the same 80's stuff. Favorites: Just like honey Sowing seeds
This one had some moments where it felt like something special was happening or about to happen but that feeling went away pretty quickly. It ended up just being a middle of the road album.
Non male. Forse un po' troppo riverbero e rumori di fondo per i miei gusti, ma nel complesso l'ho apprezzato.
Sacando algo de toda esa distorsión que, por momentos, abunda puede sonar como a The Velvet Underground 15 años después y del otro lado del Atlántico. De todas maneras era el sonido británico de esos años. No hay mucha diferencia con The Stone Roses por ejemplo.
I’ve complained that albums on this list have one song that is essential and the rest are pretty forgettable. This is on where the first track is undeniable and gives the whole album enough power to be called essential, even if the rest of it is not great. I can appreciate Psychocandy for the sound they pioneered, mostly for the other bands such as My Bloody Valentine and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club who went on to make better music.
Was pretty good
Theoretically I should love shoegaze - the vibe, tones, and rhythms are all derived from some of my favorite music, and inspired even more of it. But some of these songs are so repetitive that sometimes it’s hard to tell where one begins and another ends (or if they’re not just replaying a previous song - ‘Sowing Seeds’ particularly sounds like a retread of ‘Just Like Honey’) and you just end up zoning out. Which is the point, but I guess I just wasn’t in the mood for zoning out this morning. Would like to revisit it sometime in the future as there’s a lot here I love, but it just didn’t fully click with me right now. Fav Tracks: Just Like Honey, Cut Dead, Taste of Cindy
It's not bad. In fact, for the time, it's pretty good. But the production quality is so awful that it takes a whole star off the review. I've never heard an album that's been compressed so hard in my life. The result is a painful pressure-wave of distortion. There are no dynamics. Everything feels like a fuzz-washed wad of power-pop that's been crammed into a tin can. And it's really a shame because the music ain't bad at all. A lot of what's on here is 5-10 years ahead of its time. It's telegraphing grunge before grunge was a thing. The production is just SO BAD. It's giving me a headache.
I have always enjoyed music by artists who really know how to use noise. I don't mean simply being noisy or being loud, which anyone can do. I mean artists with an ability to take noise - notes, feedback, fuzz, distortion - and employ it as a musical instrument in its own right. On Psychocandy, The Jesus & Mary Chain really embraces noise in beautiful and unsettling ways, always pushing against what we think we should expect from music. A lot of artists have done this to varying degrees, but J&MC is beyond next level in their talent for it. This music is unabashedly noisy and somehow also gorgeously melodic when they want it to be. To be sure, this isn't meant to be an easy album. It's piercingly dissonant and probably has induced quite a few earaches over the past 35+ years. But the cumulative effect of what they've created really is like an inverse of the wall of sound idea. It's difficult, noisy to be sure, but surprisingly beautiful if you can just let the sound wash over you. I loved this album when it came out and am pleased to see that it has held up beautifully over time. Fave Songs (All songs, from most to least favorite): The Hardest Walk, Just Like Honey, You Trip Me Up, Cut Dead, My Little Underground, Something's Wrong, Sowing Seeds, Taste of Cindy, Taste the Floor, Inside Me, Never Understand, In a Hole, It's So Hard, The Living End
Nice opening song. Some songs cant decide whether they want to be mellow or hard i think. Kinda Stone Roses ish. idk didn’t really stand out to me but also wasn’t bad
I really hate the tones of this album, theres so much high pitched staticky awful noise. The guitars make me want to die. I’m on track two and I want to pull out all my hair. This whole style and vibe of music just doesn’t do it for me. So boring.
I have a hard time with apathetic singing. I briefly poked at the remastered version and it sounds way better which is an experiment I’ve never partook in before. Would not listen to this album again.
Weird and noisy, and uncomfortable to listen to at points, but also awesome and unique. An influence on loads of bands I love, and interesting as the first album by one of the great, but underappreciated, Scottish bands.
Truly unique.
A tad more shoegaze than Darklands (3.5/5) — my intro to J&MC. Solid 3.
Love this band and album so much! First discovered the Jesus and Mary Chain when they opened for NIN at a show I went to 5 or so years back. 80s hidden gem!
Probably would have been more into it when I was younger.
I just didn't like this one at all... :(
The Jesus and Mary and Alice in Chains.... All of the Jesus bands run together. Am I the only one that has this problem? I think there was an article in an old Interview Magazine that tried capturing all of the bands that used the word 'Jesus' in their band name. The Jesus Lizard MC 900 Foot Jesus Jesus Jones Jesus and Mary Chain which I sometimes get mixed up with Alice in Chains. I can tolerate their music only in small doses, but I'm not a fan of Alice in Chains and have somehow always equated the two. Alice in Chains is super dated and doesn't translate to any era except for the Soundgarden-Seattle-garbage of the '90s. Though Jesus and Mary Chain blossomed during that same time they transcend different eras of music and time. Though this album is dated, it's still interesting to listen to. I'm a big fan of BRMC and I hear that a lot in this album and specifically on The Living End. The drone-y shoegaze-y vibes bleed from this album and the fuzzy reverb / feedback effects create an interesting feeling. It's almost as if they've figured out how to get time to just stand still. Just Like Honey is great, Some Candy Talking is too. There's a lot of distortion and feedback over some mellow singing / talking that creates an interesting juxtaposition. I can understand how some people would absolutely hate this and complain that all songs sound alike, but if you've got something good the last thing you'd do is change to something different.
Just looked back to see that "Psychocandy" was 38 minutes long. Only 38 minutes!? That seemed to drone on and on forever! We last listened to The Jesus and Mary Chain 346 albums ago, and I remarked then that nothing stood out on "Darklands." And the same is so true here. There are no real standout tracks for me. One or two memorable or attention-grabbing songs could possibly elevate this, but instead I just kept dwelling on the fact that the excessive distortion and feedback just went on and on. On "In My Hole," they lamented that there was "something dead inside my hole." First of all, clean out your hole. And second of all, maybe stop recording all your music inside a hole filled with dead things. Maybe you'll get a better sound.
After a ⭐️ Darklands experience on album #6 (!), I was not hopeful for Psychocandy. I was pleasantly surprised. The feedback heavy sounds are quite nice. I imagine this was quite the innovative sound in the alternative/pop scene in 1985. I can hear some future industrial rock during In A Hole. Something’s Wrong is my favorite track. They don’t consistently carry the distortion I like throughout, but there is enough to carry my interest. Now having both TJAMC albums on the list, I conclude they are not total shite.
Starts off pretty mellow. So much distortion... kind of reminds me of a Rob Zombie/The Clash mashup. "In A Hole" - I though my HomePod was broken- nope just a very mean distortion pedal haha
Hadn't really every heard them before, not something I'm going to put in regular rotation but props to how original they are...the punk-ish, Phil Spector wall of sound but with feedback and static thing they have going on.
I like that they are Scottish. And I could listen to a few songs, but not the whole album at once. It doesn't feel punk enough, but I enjoyed it. Favorites: - In a Hole - The Hardest Walk
i mean, respect for being a genre-defining album and everything but uhhh this doesn't do anything for me personally. Also the way it's mixed grates on me, I'd much prefer the way MBV albums sound if we're doing shoegaze
Not really a fan of this. The songs all felt the same. The only song that I had heard prior to this was on the Crow soundtrack, which I did enjoy.
I’m almost giving it a five. It probably is a four, but just like honey is so good. Sucker for anything with a wall of noise layer. I really like that it’s the vocal style of more the the synth heavy stuff but then more guitar heavy musically so it felt more grounded and focused. It felt kind of like two different albums mixed together with some of the punk stuff
Interesting. Heard about this band a lot as a kid but never actually listen. Kind of remind me on Ministry minus the metal.
Didn't enjoy it very much. Not my style of distortion.
An ok album that is full of what I'd term gritty underground pop, thanks to the feedback and fuzz. All that feedback and white noise sound seems to almost be a precursor to the Grunge scene of the 90s. Best: Just Like Honey Worst: It's So Hard
Whatever they were going for here did not resonate with me at all. The whole album was just noisy as hell, and any tracks that were more tolerable just ended up being repetitive. Noisy rock or pop that isn't done right is just straight up annoying.
Cool, but the fuzz is a bit much.
I used to be fairly one note with my music tastes and I got recommended this band (as I was trying to find something new to me) I only listened to like one song from them and forgotten them forever fast forward just over a year or so and here I am trying to review a full length album, day 107 let’s go… The album opens with Just like honey, this song is amazing like an awesome shoegazey march! The living end is a messy track sounding like they’re in a storm of screeching nonsense didn’t like this track much. I like taste the floor, the guitars are a little too distorted for me but still a great song in there. The hardest walk isn’t too overpowering in distortion and the vocals are louder in the mix (which I prefer for this band) yeah it’s nice. Cut dead isn’t what I thought it would be it’s just nice and calm, just what the album needs. In a hole is a good example of what a song can sound like all distorted/messy and still sound great! Taste of Cindy is a shortie but it’s not a bad song I actually quite enjoy this one. ( Technically not on the album) some candy talking is a must listen the best song on the album! We get a proper rocker with Never understand, the song is a little too screechy with the guitars but it’s still enjoyable. Inside Me has probably the best bass line on the album and the song is great but there’s too much extra noise. I’am a bit skeptical about the lyrics on sowing seeds ( especially for the time that it was made as if the album was modern you could see it as an attack on apple I guess) but it’s cool! My little underground is cool, has the usual issues but it’s cool. You trip me up is a banger yeah screechy but a banger! The penultimate track ( somethings wrong) is the longest track on the album and yeah one of the albums best! The album closes with with it’s so hard, this song is odd but not dreadful. There’s almost slightly too much screech for me but hey the songs were still amazing!
A bit biased going into this seeing the band's name and the decade of release. So far it's more of the same bland 80's vocals and bad synths. Thankfully it isn't a long album but so far I have not been enjoying it. Just a bit too slow and soft for me. I'm not a fan of the mixing at all, the music drowns out the singer throughout and the distortion from the guitars is unpleasant to my ears. The songs sounded very repetitive and similar and they felt blended together. Almost made it through the whole album but I just couldn't do it.
Psychocandy announces itself with a bang with Just like Honey a psychedelic pop masterpiece. And there is some, but just a little, fall off from their. These guys turn up the distortion from time to time, but never such that the melody lines are lost. The more you listen the more get lost in their psychedelic jungle. This band and album countless trends to come; shoegaze and brit pop to name but two. Other highlights; Never Understand with its driving beat and distorted noisy guitars, The Hardest Walk harkening back to the best of the 60s pop and I just love the feel of Cut Dead. Great stuff. 4.5 stars
There's so much noise and distortion that it literally hurt my ears
I'm sure I'd have liked this is I was 20 years old in 1985. It's not bad but it's nothing fantastic.
Album is ok. Couple tunes I liked.
Both gave me tinitus and sounded like i had tinitus. There is something about this style that i can't grasp.
This album was really influential for me. I had just started listening to Triple J (Australian alternative youth radio) about the time this came out and so thought this was kind of normal. Later, I discovered it was not. The J&MC really picked up on the noise factor from the Velvet Underground (along with other influences, like the Beach Boys, girl groups, Suicide, Einsturzende Neubauten, and Phil Spector) to create a "high IQ, low technique" (to quote Lou Reed's NYT obit) pop musique. Not easy listening, but I like that. I like that a lot.
Classic debut by the Reid brothers - their use of feedback crossed with 60s Spector girl groups was pioneering and was a major influence on noise rock and shoegaze. Future Primal Scream vocalist drums on the album. This album is not for the faint of heart - the feedback sometimes dominates the instrumentation so if you have sensitive ears, proceed with caution! The album opens with the classic Just Like Honey (used memorably in the film Lost in Translation) and also contains Never Understand and You Trip Me Up. Some versions include Some Candy Talking, another of their best songs, though this wasn't on the original tracklist. So if you like your pop songs noisy, turn this one up loud and enjoy!
dead good. i went to see JAMC play psychocandy about 10 years ago and it was the first night on the tour. they started off by playing some of the big uns off their other albums and they sounded awful, like as bad as any gig i've ever been to. it filled me with pure dread that i was probably not going to have the stamina to see it through and lose a much loved band in the process. however, as soon as they started the psychocandy section it was fucking perfect, sounded brilliant. don't know if they were sharking us or if they just hadn't played the other songs in ages but i'm yet to see another band go from so bad to so good in a single set.
Kumquats! (Kumquats? Damn!) Call the po-lice, and the fireman, kumquats! (Kumquats, damn) This week's top pick's papayas, man Girl, who sent you for satsumas? (×4) Cos Upton fruit's gon' give it to ya Wednesday afternoon, usual spot TWO FOR ONE APRICOTS
Distorted dreampop done dirty
Beautiful crafted 1950s and 1960s style classic pop songs slathered in epic walls of white noise. Cool as they come indie perfection. Must be played loud enough to make ears and eyes bleed.
it was ok
I GET what they're doing, presenting poppy tunes under a wash of screechy distortion. I just don't know WHY. Brittle, thin treble-y mess. Almost like the dude thought writing pop melodies was nerdy, so wanted to prove to his chums he was really a rocker. Kinda like a Tom Waits approach. But I'll "Wait" for Tom. These weirdos? Fuck no.
better than Darklands, still the most over-rated band of their era
Nada mais que ruído.
U neemt een theelepeltje The Cure, vervangt de groove door een stofzuiger en laat deze lui een paar dagen niet slapen... y voila! Ik presenteer u The Jesus and Mary Chain. Weltrusten.
Dit is wel heel erg veel van hetzelfde. Lijkt wel alsof de drummer maar 1 drumbeat kent.
Also mn oren de hele tijd dicht zitten. Het suist maar door. Maar best ok verder.
Dirty but excellent!
It's ok