The Jesus and Mary Chain- Damage and Joy (2017) A Review

The Jesus and Mary Chain- Damage and Joy (2017) A Review

By: Ghost Writer

True to their legend of 15 minutes shows, the Reid brothers come up with a new record that simply doesn't rank among their best, but one that has some short interesting moments, it’s amazing for me that bands like Death Metal legends Obituary came up a couple of days ago with a formidable new record that sounds even more rabid than the band's early years, and that the JAMC aren't able to do that in this Damage and Joy, a record that continues repeating the trend started by Munki, recorded 19 years ago, showing a band almost bored with everything, with legendary producer Youth making some magic here and there but unable to save the Reid brothers sinking ship, yes, JAMC still sound like an intriguing mix of the Beach Boys and the Velvet Underground but unfortunately we are talking here of the boring Mike Love version of the BB and the tiresome Loaded version of the VU.

Yes, opener Amputation starts with its heavy doses of distortion and the band's “woooos” that recall the Ramones at their prime, but without the razor sharp guitars of the New York punk pioneers the tunes showcases the late trend of JAMC of sounding tired and too streamlined, catchy at times yes, but not deafening entertaining, the first half of War on Peace is simply forgettable, the band tries to rehearse the good old stoned years but simply end up sounding like the tired version of the VU that recorded Loaded, yes, Lou Reed might have a couple of hits like Rock N Roll and Sweet Jane but he was too bored already to play them, the second part reminds me of motorik with buzz saw guitars arriving too late to save the song, but somehow the band manages to rescue a little bit of the good old magic on All Things Pass, against returning to the Apache beat of Neu!, Youth's exuberant bass and Ramones' flashy melodies.

Always Sad is not exactly the best on the record coming up like a second rate Yo La Tengo thanks to the vocal interplay between male and female singers, and that's a bad thing because I always kind of thought YLT was a second rate JAMC, on Song for a Secret they visit the Velvets again but not in a very amusing way, with Isobel Campbell unable to save the day, but the band manages to get really focused on The Two of Us, taking inspiration on garage tock among other things, a little "Louie Louie" and a little Stooges.

Irony is highly regarded by the Reid brothers, and it is freely put in display on Los Feliz, an ode to Americana adding a new flavor to the JAMC, recalling some of the hard rocking laid back songs by none other than father of distortion Neil Young, that before sounding totally lost on Mood Rider, but coming up from the ashes on Presidici that marries good melodies and engaging guitars, that continue on the rock n rolling Get On Home that recalls early Beach Boys or a heartbreaking homage to the recently departed Chuck Berry.

It ends up in an intriguing way the insistence of the band to rebuild the magic of male/female vocal of Just Like Honey (or perhaps girl bands of the past) but despite the help of the volatile “Who Loves the Sun” like melody Black and Blues again comes up like a failed experiment followed by Can't Stop Rock n Roll that sounds like a big throw away by a band so obsessed on annoying their audience in such an ungraceful way, at least the Sex Pistols were obnoxiously funny and fiery, at least early JAMC were loud and abrasive, but lately the band simply sounds clueless and thinking they still have a great album behind allowing them to act like jerks, but again, they are wrong, and despite the short 15 minutes of genius music, Damage and Joy ends up falling apart, and not in an amusing way…