Episode 77: The Jesus & Mary Chain’s “Honey’s Dead” (1992)

Summary

Accelerated Culture – Episode 77

The Jesus & Mary Chain’s “Honey’s Dead” (1992)
December 7, 2025
Hosted by Lori and Scott Free

---

Main Theme & Purpose

In this episode, Lori and Scott Free deep-dive into the Jesus & Mary Chain’s 1992 landmark album, Honey’s Dead. The hosts explore the band’s musical evolution, the alternative scene of the early 90s, and the cultural context that shaped the creation of this fuzz-drenched, genre-blending record. The journey includes a detailed history of the band, a track-by-track review, and reflections on the album’s impact and legacy.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Personal Updates & Recent Shows

• Scott recaps a busy month of live music, including Kerala Dust (“Radiohead if they cared if you could dance to it”—[02:30]), Little Simz, Cut Copy and Portugal the Man.
• Shoutouts to friends and listeners in the music scene, notably Zach from Q101, who’s helped connect the podcast with the industry.

---

2. Introduction to The Jesus & Mary Chain

Origins & Influences ([11:00–19:00])

• Formation: East Kilbride, Glasgow, 1983 by brothers Jim and William Reid.
• Motivation: Started the band in reaction to dislike of “the crap coming out of the radio.”

  “It was the crap coming out of the radio that made us want to be in a band.” – Scott (paraphrasing the Reids, [12:44])

• Sound: Influences include Phil Spector’s wall of sound, 60s girl groups (Ronettes, Shangri-Las), The Ramones, Velvet Underground, The Stooges, Suicide, New York Dolls, and pop as well as punk.
• Noise & Feedback:

  “According to William Reid, that's why we started using noise and feedback. We want to make records that sound different.” – Lori ([16:10])

• Shoegaze Connection: Their fuzzy, feedback-laden style often lumped in with the shoegaze scene, though with more raw edge.

Early Live Reputation & Persona

• Short, Frenetic Shows: “Very short live sets, 20 minutes or less, with both brothers hopped up on amphetamines, playing with their backs to the audience” – Lori ([21:39])
• Anecdotes about coin tosses deciding band roles vs. less glamorous reality.

---

3. Career Milestones Leading to Honey’s Dead

Early Successes ([23:24–36:46])

• Debut single: “Upside Down” (1984) — gained traction, over 75k copies sold.
• First Album: Psychocandy (1985) – “love it or hate it” noisy debut, established signature sound.
• Major Moves: Managed by Alan McGee (Creation Records), later switched management.
• Notable Drummers: Bobby Gillespie (later of Primal Scream) played on Psychocandy.

Later Albums & Growing Tensions

• Darklands (1987): More accessible, featuring “April Skies,” “Happy When it Rains.”
• Automatic (1989): Introduction to American charts with “Head On” and “Blues From a Gun.”
• Tour-induced exhaustion and sibling conflict, near band splits, and a Christmas truce ([30:00]).

---

4. The Making of Honey’s Dead

The Studio & Production Team ([31:55–37:00])

• Setting: Built their own studio, The Drugstore, to work at their own pace and escape label pressures.
• Production “A Team”:
  • Engineers: Flood (noted for U2’s Achtung Baby) and Alan Moulder (worked with NIN, MBV, Arctic Monkeys).
  • Drummer: Steve Monti (ex-Curve, Ian Dury, Cocteau Twins).

Album Concept & Artwork

• Title: Refers back to their earliest single: “Honey’s Dead” = “this is no longer the same band.”
• Cover Art: Pre-Raphaelite painting “Ophelia, first version” by Arthur Hughes.

Reception & Legacy

• Release Date: March 22, 1992
• Chart Impact: Peaked at #14 UK, #158 US (an “if you know, you know” cult favorite in the US).
• Placed in context: the album’s consistency signals the band at their creative peak.

---

Track-by-Track Album Review

1. Reverence ([38:53])

• Key Quote:

  “I want to die just like Jesus Christ, I want to die just like JFK.” – Jim Reid ([39:07])

• Buzzing distortion, hip-hop influenced beats, “industrial feeling but slick.”
• Controversy: Banned from BBC TV for controversial lyrics and video imagery (American flag shot full of holes, crucifix imagery).
• Scott: “That, my friends, is how you start a Jesus and Mary Chain album in 1992.” ([39:42])

2. Teenage Lust ([46:28])

• Sleazy tension, repeated phrase, strip club video.
• Lyric content feels “uneasy”—acknowledges age-difference discomfort, sleazy vibe.

3. Far Gone and Out ([52:20])

• Bouncy, tambourine-laden pop track, echoing Spector-girl group feel.
• Chorus: “Hey, hey, hey” – irresistible earworm.
• Notable Letterman Show performance marred by pre-partying and surreal post-show awkwardness ([56:03]).

4. Almost Gold ([59:42])

• Sweeter, poppier, lush with violins and bright chords.
• Gold-toned, dreamy music video.

5. Sugar Ray ([63:50])

• Industrial edge, percussive stuttering guitar, “Godzilla-roar” sound (nod to NIN’s Reptile).
• Lyric: “All my friends have fun with guns but all I want is you.”
• First heard from the Freejack movie soundtrack, also used in a 1993 Bud Ice commercial.
• Lori interprets final chorus as referencing “le petit mort”—sexual climax ([69:25]).

6. Tumble Down ([69:39])

• Ramones/Ronettes hybrid with fuzz, sampled 18-second clip from Einstürzende Neubauten (“Tanz Debil”).
• Lyrics of unrequited infatuation; ending marked by persistent drumming.

7. Catchfire ([73:42])

• Simple, shoegazey, wah-heavy and infectious.
• Lyrically minimal and open to interpretation: “Catch fire, and we're gonna crucify her.”
• William on breathy vocals.

8. Good for My Soul ([77:31])

• “Mid-tempo, Jesus and Mary Jane almost plodding, but bright major chords happening.” ([78:20])
• Noted for cinematic feel and multiple industrial guitar textures.

9. Rollercoaster ([84:26])

• Originally released as a 1990 EP, reworked for this album with live drums and less vocal echo.
• Song structure compared to a “sonic rollercoaster”: multiple mood/volume swings.

10. I Can’t Get Enough ([87:32])

• Straightforward, up-tempo pop—love song with dark undertones.
• Lyrics: “I can never, ever get enough of you. You’ll be the death of me.” ([89:42])
• Hosts joke: “Bubblegum pop with a gasoline and strychnine aftertaste.”

11. Sundown ([90:57])

• Slow, sunny, and melancholic song about departure and mortality.
• Scott:

  “I may want this song to be played at my funeral.” ([91:46])

• Lyrics: “The planet poisoned me, is a sick place to be … I’ve got a taste for it now, I’ve gotta leave…”

12. Frequency ([93:59])

• Album bookend: miniature, stripped-down reprisal of "Reverence"—now sung by William.
• “Radio on” lyric is a Modern Lovers “Roadrunner” homage.
• Closes album on both a cyclical and unresolved note.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Shout out to Zach, thanks so much for the hookups and for listening to this show and to getting other people in the music industry at the radio station and at record companies listening.”—Scott ([07:10])
• On the Reids’ musical philosophy:

  “Because we are so good. Because we’re so much better than everybody else. Because so many other people are complete rubbish.” ([31:55])

• On the album’s evolution:

  “This album is generally regarded to be where their sound becomes most consistent and becomes the Jesus and Mary chain that we come to know and love…”—Scott ([35:08])

• On the band’s voice division:

  “Jim is the growlier one and William is the breathier.” ([61:38])

---

Legacy, Later Years & Reflection

• Post-Honey’s Dead:
  • Heavily toured, including Lollapalooza 1992; sales disappoint despite effort and critical acclaim.
  • Internal strife, changing alternative landscape; eventual breakup in 1998 following an infamous onstage row.
• Reunions & Recent Activity:
  • Reunited for Coachella 2007, various tours and festivals (including Riot Fest).
  • Damage and Joy album (2017), Glasgow Eyes (2024):

    “It was a lot more electronic and synth driven… really cool as hell.” – Scott ([106:25])

  • Still strong live performers, “plenty of attitude and just cool as hell.” ([107:00])
• Personal Connection:
  • Lori and Scott reminisce about seeing the band live together, noting the Jesus and Mary Chain remains a secret handshake among alternative fans.

---

Track Favorites

• Lori: “Far Gone and Out” (“That ‘hey hey hey’ is just too catchy.” —[97:53])
• Scott: “Sugar Ray” (“That percussive delay guitar stutter thing… the best track on an album mostly made of really great tracks.” —[97:53])

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Origins and Influences: [11:00–19:00]
• Early Live Show Reputation: [21:39–23:24]
• Band History Leading to Honey’s Dead: [23:24–36:46]
• Album Production Team/Context: [31:55–37:00]
• Track-by-Track Review Starts: [38:53]
• “Reverence” Breakdown: [39:07–45:24]
• “Teenage Lust”: [46:28]
• “Far Gone and Out”: [52:20]
• “Sugar Ray” and Movie Connection: [63:50–67:35]
• Album Wrap and Favorites: [97:20–98:37]
• Career Reflection and Legacy: [98:42–107:10]

---

Next Episode Teaser

• Spooky by Lush (Episode 78, Dec 21st): “It dovetails out of the Jesus and Mary Chain’s sort of psychedelic post-shoegaze thing to get back into true shoegaze. It’s a great album. I’m excited about it.” – Scott ([107:37])

---

This episode captures the creative chaos, sonic innovation, and indelible cool of the Jesus and Mary Chain at their Honey’s Dead era—essential listening (and reading) for alt-music devotees, long-time fans, and newcomers alike.

Transcript

[Lori]

Hey, this is Sarah. Look, I'm standing out front of a.m. p.m. Right now and, well, you're sweet and all, but I found something more fulfilling, even kind of cheesy. But I like it. Sure, you met some of my dietary needs, but they've just got it all. So farewell, oatmeal. So long, you strange soggy.

[Scott Free]

Break up with bland breakfast and taste AM PM's bacon, egg and cheese biscuit made with ktree eggs, smoked bacon and melty cheese on a buttery biscuit. AM PM Too much Good stuff. Accelerated Culture fans love new wave deep dives. Hit synth and swagger for articles and PDFs on Duran Duran in excess and more synth and swagger.com.

[Lori]

Welcome to the Accelerated Culture podcast. A sonic journey through the vibrant and revolutionary sounds of the 1980s and 1990s. And now 2024 Webby honoree for best Indie Podcast. I'm Lori, along with my co host Scott Free, and in this podcast we explore how new waves stormed the airwaves in the early 80s and gave way for the rise of alternative music in the 90s. Find us on the [e-mail].

[Scott Free]

Hello. Welcome back to Accelerated Culture and to this episode 77 the Jesus and Mary Chain Honey's dead. Oh, spoiler alert. It's about the Jesus and Mary Chains album, Honey's Dead. I am one of your two hosts, Scott Free.

[Lori]

And I'm Laurie. How's it going?

[Scott Free]

It's going pretty good.

[Lori]

Yeah, it's been a while. We took a couple weeks off for Thanksgiving and what do you know?

[Scott Free]

What have you seen?

[Lori]

Not a damn thing. How about you?

[Scott Free]

Oh, so much. It has been a crazy busy month of shows for me. Yeah, I won't go into excruciating detail for all of them, but there are a few that I believe do warrant letting the people know about because it's just so, so good. So weeks ago I saw a group called Kerala Dust and I think you would really dig these guys. Koala Dust, Kerala Dust, K E R A L A Dust. It's like Radiohead if they gave a damn if you could dance to it with Lloyd Cole on guitar and Matt Johnson from the the singing lead and occasionally remixed by the Chemical Brothers and heavily influenced by LCD sound system. Like none of that is who's actually in the band, but that's what it kind of sounds like and they're kind of amazing. Such a good live show that you can actually dance to. And then the next night I saw Little Sims, who is a Nigerian British female rapper who showed up to the Salt Shed in Chicago with a four piece R& B combo and put on a rare really strong hip hop show because it was an instrumental, groovy hip hop show. But then she also broke it down and got onto turntables and had a dance set in the middle and really weird, but great. I then went to the Lyric Opera of Chicago and saw Orff's Carmina Barana, which if you're like, I don't know that one offhand. But you do, of course. But if you, the listeners are like, I don't know that opera offhand because who knows opera? This one you know, because of the big hit from it, which is O Fortuna.

[Jim Reid (Jesus and Mary Chain vocals)]

Foreign.

[Scott Free]

You know that one?

[Lori]

Yeah.

[Scott Free]

Rousing song. And so such an amazing production of that.

Then. Okay, so many years ago, a couple decades ago, I was a college design instructor and you were one of my college design students.

[Lori]

Correct.

[Scott Free]

One of your classmates, a guy by the name of Zach who worked with us on the school newspaper. He has gone on to go into the design of music broadcasting and is now.

Relatively high up in the programming hierarchy at Chicago's main Alternative Music Station, Q101. Zach and I reconnected at a Helmet show in March and have been threatening to hang out. And we finally made good on that threat. And he has invited me to two different shows at the Q101 Lounge, which is at the radio station, where they have a little lounge and they have bands come into this small lounge, 20 or 30 people in the crowd. And so I saw Portugal the Man play a four person acoustic set, which was amazing. And then that night, Zach and I went out and saw Edge Hill, a four piece pop rock band, but emphasis on the rock of really young guys from Nashville. They sound a lot like Built to Spill. And we saw them open up for another band at Lincoln Hall. We left from that show, skipping the headliner to go to see Portugal the Man at the Salt Shed. And my God, there could not be a bigger contrast between that four piece acoustic set and this banger of a hard rocking show. I did not expect that out of Portugal the Man. Mostly I just know Rebel for kicks. So we went and go see. We went and saw Portugal the man. Then two days later Monday went back to the Q101 Lounge and saw Edge Hill, the Built to Spill style, very young Nashville band, play their set at the Q101 Lounge.

Man, my goodness, I know. And then saw Cut Copy at the Ramova Theater in Bridgeport. Cut Copy, I would say contemporaries of LCD sound system who clearly listened to a lot of OMD and Depeche mode, but then in the early 2000s, made some amazing albums. And this show was so good again, practically turned into a rave playing their electronic music, but it was made to dance. And such a good show. That is what I know and what I have seen since last we talked.

[Lori]

Well, it's a shame that you've been so bored. I mean, I don't know how you handle it.

[Scott Free]

I'm exhausted.

[Lori]

But it's the good kind of exhaustion, right?

[Scott Free]

The good kind of exhaustive. But I'm getting too old for this. Shout out to Zach, thanks so much for the hookups and for listening to this show and to getting other people in the music industry at the radio station and at record companies listening to the show, of course, talked with a few of them and they seem to dig it.

[Lori]

That's amazing. Oh, that's so cool. Yeah. Well, so thank you, Zach, for your involvement there. And I want to give a quick shout out to one of my colleagues at the college, Dan, who has recently started listening.

[Scott Free]

Thanks for listening, Dan.

[Lori]

Okay, so, Scott, you picked the album this week. What album are we discussing?

[Scott Free]

I did. I did pick that album. And as I'd already spoiled at the top of the episode, it is the 1992 album by the Jesus and Mary Chain, Honey's Dead.

[Lori]

Love it, love it, love it, love it.

[Scott Free]

When did you first become aware of the Jesus and Mary Chain?

[Lori]

For me, it was their 1989 album, Automatic.

[Scott Free]

All right.

[Lori]

And I fell in love. As a matter of fact, I just got off the phone with my brother and I. He doesn't even seem to remember, but when he was about 7 or 8 years old. No, would have been younger than that. I used to always play that album and we'd like do air guitar and air band and. Yeah, so right on.

[Scott Free]

For me, it's a little bit earlier. I wasn't an avid follower from the beginning, but I was aware of their existence relatively early in the game. I may have mentioned in the past, when I was in high school, I was the music director of my high school radio station. But before that, I was an avid listener and there was a dark new wave show that another one of the DJs had on a weekly basis. Pete Starkle, thanks for introducing me to so much cool music, including the Jesus and Mary Chain with their debut album, Psycho Candy, which was dark and noisy, but also had that Jesus and Mary chain early rock and pop sensibility, but just slathered in so much fuzz and so Much feedback, immediately drawn to it, but didn't really get into it until, like, you, I saw Head on on MTV and was like, oh, yeah, I remember these guys. They're cool as hell. And yeah, Jesus Mary Chain is cool as hell, man.

[Lori]

I guess we should get started by talking about where these guys came from.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, yeah. All right. As we do try to practice some sort of academic rigor in this podcast, I do want to talk a little bit about the sources that I will be citing throughout. And, Laurie, I know you insist upon doing the same.

[Lori]

Absolutely right.

[Scott Free]

So a couple documentaries that I draw from as source material here. I've actually referred to both of them in the past. One of them, Teenage Superstars 2017 Grant McPhee documentary film I talked about just a couple episodes ago when we were talking about the Soup Dragons. And then an earlier one, a 2014 Eric Green documentary film, Beautiful Noise, which I believe I referenced quite a bit in our Cocteau Twins, Heaven or Las Vegas episode. And you know those three bands, Soup Dragons, Cocteau Twins, and Jesus and Mary Chain, Although you look at them and they're like, not that much alike. They do all tie into the shoegaze scene at one point or another.

[Lori]

And they're all Scottish and they're all Scottish.

[Scott Free]

So I talk about both of those. And of course, you know, go to the wiki, because, hey, it's there and it's easy. And you want to start this, Laurie?

[Lori]

Well, I actually went back to my bookshelf. Some of these books I've had for many years, and I finally got to dust them off. One of them is called the Jesus and Mary Barbed Wire Kisses by Zoe Howard.

And the other One is Alan McGee and the story of Creation Records by Paulo Hewitt.

[Scott Free]

Right on.

[Lori]

Yeah.

[Scott Free]

You are a voracious reader. I mean, you go through books a week.

[Lori]

Oh, easily, yeah. Sometimes two at once. Sometimes I'll switch from like a fiction to a non fiction, you know, depending on my mood.

[Scott Free]

It is laudable and admirable. And boy, if I could break my social media addiction, the reading I could do on Shit that Matters one of these days. Well, so the Jesus and Mary Chain starts in the Glasgow new town of East Kilbride in 1983, where brothers William Reed and Jim Reed, born in 1958 and 1961 respectively. To give you some sense of where they fall, really more baby boomers than Gen X. But you know, we, the Gen Xers were listening to their work.

[Lori]

So William would have been 25. Does that sound about right?

[Scott Free]

When they started the Band I will say yes. Yes.

[Lori]

And then Jim would have been doing math here. 22.

[Scott Free]

I'll say yes. Yes. Again, the math seems to check out okay. The two of them spent five years on the dole, basically on welfare, which is a much more robust system in the UK and particularly back then in the 80s, their father got laid off and was given redundancy money, severance package, and gave that to the Suns and they bought a Porta studio and they started recording music. So, you know, this is a little bit older than some of the bands that we've seen where they first meet in middle school or high school, but still plenty of time ahead of them and plenty of downtime where they can just learn to make noise on the guitar. But by their telling of it, that is mostly what they were doing. They did not consider themselves guitar players, but they did know how to make noise on a guitar or play chords passively enough, but not a lot of chords pass. And they didn't have a lot of music theory. They were just making up as they went. And a question that often got asked of them early in their career, pretty standard young band stuff, is why did they decide to start a band? And these guys are just so goddamn funny. This from the Wiki, but it sums it up in response to their distaste of the music of the time. And then quoting the. It was the crap coming out of the radio that made us want to be in a band. And yeah, they. They don't pull their punches about other music of the time. We'll hear a little bit more about that later. Because, man, yeah, the kind of music that they started making to counter the crap that they were hearing on the radio. And in no small part, they were talking about the pure synth driven pop of the time. And they did not really have much love for their synth pop contemporaries, Scottish or English or American. But their influences were again, wildly diverse. So they talk about their love of 60s girl group songs, in particular Ronnie Spector and the Ronettes, and Phil Spector's wall of sound production and how they just loved that. Which, you know, sometimes during this album, there are a couple times where it's like, okay, I can see where that's creeping up, particularly the girl group pop sound. But then also throughout their career, that wall of sound thing, very different approach than Phil Spector took. But yeah, this layer upon layer and just make it dense. That's signature Jesus and Mary chain sound. But then you've also got the Ramones, one of their huge influences, although that's not Even as big a leap as you might think, because the Ramones were basically making 50s and 60s pop, just making it fast and hard. And so you can see the kinship there. Right.

[Lori]

Speaking of the Ramone, Scott. As a matter of fact, when the Reed brothers cut some early demos, people were comparing them to the Ramones. They said they sounded just like the Ramones.

[Scott Free]

Right.

[Lori]

So according to William Reed, that's why we started using noise and feedback. We want to make records that sound different.

[Scott Free]

Yeah.

[Lori]

And that would become the Jesus and Mary Chain signature sound.

[Jim Reid (Jesus and Mary Chain vocals)]

Right.

[Scott Free]

The fuzz pedal in particular is huge for them.

[Jim Reid (Jesus and Mary Chain vocals)]

And.

[Scott Free]

And then, yeah, the feedback, the distortion, all kinds of effects that got them, particularly early in their career, labeled a shoegaze band. And I think the energy is so different, particularly as time goes on and their sound develops, that they stop being shoegaze and they start being their own thing. But you can see why, again, it's that fuzz, it's that distortion, it's that feedback that, you know, not out of place on a My Bloody Valentine album. And particularly with that dense, thick, chewy sound. But very different styles, other influences. Then you've got the Velvet Underground, which you can absolutely hear in their songwriting and structures and approach to guitar. The Stooges, Iggy and the Stooges, the New York Dolls, Suicide. Those all make some kind of sense. The Shangri La again, loved that 60s girl group sound.

I apologize for my German pronunciation, but I'm doing the best I can here. Pink Floyd, and in particular, Sid Barrett. And we will see a Sid Barrett connection a little later. Susie and the Banshees. The Monkees. Again, these guys love straight pop, particularly 60s straight pop. And then Muddy Waters. So all over the board. But you can kind of see how this forms the gumbo, or I guess the haggis. That is the Jesus and Mary chain Scottish sound. Right.

[Lori]

Sorry, I had to laugh at the haggis joke, but yes.

[Scott Free]

Okay. So they've got their home recording rig, they are making noise, they start recording. They have some early names that don't make it very far, but first they were the Poppy Seeds, and then they were the Death of Joey. And before too long, they arrive at the Jesus and Mary Chain. And there are apocryphal stories as to why they named themselves the Jesus and Mary Chain. First they claimed it was a line from a Bing Crosby song, and they kept that up for, like, six months, and then later admitted, no, they just made that up.

[Lori]

I think the generally accepted narrative by the fans is that it was an advertisement. I don't remember if it was a magazine or on a cereal packet or something. Customers could, like, send in product codes and redeem it for a gold pendant, Jesus and Mary Chain.

Now, funny story there, Scott. When I was listening to Jesus and Mary Chain, my mother's boyfriend's family was super, super evangelical.

[Scott Free]

Okay.

[Lori]

And one of his sisters happened to look at my cassette tape collection, and she saw Jesus and Mary chain and ministry, and she's like, oh, is that gospel music?

[Scott Free]

In a way, it's preaching a gospel.

[Lori]

The Gospel According to Jim and William Reed.

[Scott Free]

Yeah. It's a very strange, twisted gospel at times, as we will see when we get into the track by track.

[Lori]

Yeah.

[Scott Free]

But we're not there yet. We got some history yet to talk about. So, having formed the band, which in its original lineup was Jim Reed, William Reed, Douglas Hart, and one Murray, Dog Leash on drums.

[Lori]

Dog Leash.

[Scott Free]

Dog Leash.

[Lori]

Must have be having hearing trouble. First it was Koala, now it's Dog Leash.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, you got. You got animals on the brain, apparently.

[Lori]

Apparently.

[Scott Free]

But one of the funny things is, as I mentioned earlier, neither of the Reed brothers were particularly great on guitar, and neither of them considered themselves particularly great singer. And there came a point early in their career when they were starting to perform where they had to decide who's going to be the lead guitarist, who's going to be the lead singer. And from the Beautiful Noise 2014 documentary by Eric Green that I mentioned, Jim Reed is talking about this and saying. And they got the best Scottish accent, and it's so cool. Yeah. I really didn't want to be the singer, and neither did William. And what it came down to is that he could play guitar slightly better than I could, which was like, he could play guitar hardly at all. He could just hold a beat down and a bar chord. And we had a gig coming up, so somebody had to do the guitar work. Somebody had to sing, and it just kind of happened that way.

[Lori]

Oh, but that's not as cool as the legend.

[Scott Free]

Yeah. Which is.

[Lori]

The legend is that they flipped a coin to determine who would be the singer.

[Scott Free]

Either way, whether it's a coin toss or, hey, you suck slightly less at guitar than I do. So I guess I'm the lead singer and you're the lead guitarist. Both hilarious ways to start a band. And that hilarity translated into their early shows.

[Lori]

Yeah. So they became known for their very short live sets. 20 minutes or less, with both brothers really hopped up on amphetamine. And they would play with their backs to the audience.

[Scott Free]

Right. They got this big it's described as psychotic. Post echo in the Bunnyman Hair. It's like the mop top, but short on the sides, but huge shock of hair on top. But they've got sunglasses on, backs to the audience playing pretty much still, but fast and loud and distortion. And that was their jam. Thurston Moore, who you know as one of the brains behind Sonic Youth. Again, if you haven't listened to our Sonic Youth Goo episode, you should after this one. Thurston Moore says, you'd see these reports about how the Mary Chain were playing for 12 minutes with no regard for doing an encore. Then Douglas Hart of Jesus and Mary Jane says, I guess there was a part of us that didn't play anymore because we were so up that we physically couldn't do it any longer.

Don't do drugs, kids, stay in school.

[Lori]

But. But based on the strength of those live shows, yes, there was somebody in the audience named Bobby Gillespie who we've also talked about. The lead singer of Primal Scream.

[Scott Free]

Yes. And if you have not listened to our Primal Scream Scream a Delica episode, do that because for my money, it is some of our strongest work. And oh my God, that album is so good.

[Lori]

Yes, it's really good. So Bobby passed along a recording of Jim and William to Alan McGee of Creation Records and Alan signed them for a one off single which was called Upside Down. And Scott, you had mentioned earlier that Iggy and the Stooges were a big influence on the Reed Brothers. In the outro of the record, there's engraved, it says, bless me Iggy for I have sinned.

[Scott Free]

And yeah, like Iggy was not known for not sinning. So I like to think that they weren't asking for his forgiveness for having sinned, they were asking for his blessing to sin.

[Lori]

Yes, I love it. I love it.

[Scott Free]

To continue sinning. Yeah. 1984 debut single for the band and it got some traction. Upside down charted on the UK charts in February of 1985 and then again in March of 85. It sold 75,000 copies in total. Which for the debut single by a band that's. Yeah, that's nothing, just need that.

[Lori]

So based on the strength of this single, Upside down, they were signed by Blanco Inegro Records, which is a subsidiary of WEA. In January of 85, that's when they got the record contract. But Alan McGee from Creation still stayed on to be their manager.

[Scott Free]

And that is a good guy to have in your corner because he was kind of a kingmaker is the wrong term because he was making a lot of small but very credible, small time successful bands in the uk. But like his stamp of approval, that could really take you places.

[Lori]

Yes. So some of the bands, Oasis, My Bloody Valentine, Primal Scream, Ride, Teenage Fan Club and House of Love.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, that's again, not necessarily the biggest selling groups, but some of the coolest.

[Lori]

Groups and most influential, definitely.

[Scott Free]

For sure.

[Lori]

Yeah. So Dal Glish had left the band and so they brought on Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream fame to be the drummer for their first album.

[Scott Free]

With now a successful debut single behind them and they've been signed. They release in 1985 their debut album, Psycho Candy, which is a Love it or Hate it album. For a lot of people. It's an insanely good debut album, but it is noisy. Like they really embrace the. The fuzz and the distortion. And for some people's minds, it is not particularly listenable. But as time goes on and albums keep coming out, they keep refining the sound.

[Lori]

The one single that I remember from this album was Just Like Honey.

[Scott Free]

Oh, yeah.

[Lori]

It's such a good song. It's a little bit more ballady, a little bit more.

I guess, softer than what I've come to expect from the Mary Chain.

[Jim Reid (Jesus and Mary Chain vocals)]

Yeah.

[Scott Free]

But as we get into the track by track on this one, you'll hear that comes up a little bit. And in the next album, when they team up with Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star, not everything they do is hard, but even when it's soft, it's weird. And sometimes dark. Spin has a lot of different sounds, but certain threads throughout.

[Lori]

Yes. So they parted ways with Alan McGee and they actually, at this is the first point, I think they came close to splitting up. Jim Reed was supposedly suffering from, quote, exhaustion, which is usually code for too many drugs. Right.

[Scott Free]

Too many amphetamines can be exhausting from what I've heard.

[Lori]

From what you've heard. Yeah. So Blanco Inegro manager Jeff Travis turn took over as their manager.

[Scott Free]

Okay.

[Lori]

Bobby Gillespie also decided to leave Jesus and Mary Chain and focus on Primal Scream.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, he had been doing double duty. He had been in both bands for two years and both bands were doing well in their own right. But Primal Scream, he was the brains behind the outfit and he really got to drive that creative direction.

[Lori]

Yeah. So then 1987 brought us their second studio album called Darklands. The big singles off that album were April Skies and Happy When It Rains.

[Scott Free]

I don't have a lot more to say about that because we then move on to 1989. We've already addressed a little bit Automatic, the album from that year and again its big singles, which were the first singles by the Jesus Mary Chain 2 chart in the US with blues from a Gun and Head On. Head on, man, when I saw it on nmtv, particularly because that video has this constant movement, quick cut thing. And the song is just so driving and cool. I freaking love that song. The Pixies covered it and great version. I'm a Jesus and Mary Chain Head on guy myself. But it just tells you that even some of the coolest weirdos in alternative rock stood up and took notice of the Jeezy Mary Chain at that point. If the Pixies are covering your song, you're probably pretty damn cool.

[Lori]

The subsequent tour, by all accounts, was very stressful for both brothers. They were keeping up a pace that it's hard to imagine them doing it without some kind of chemical stimulants.

[Scott Free]

This will become for them.

[Lori]

Yes, but they really should have probably called it quits after their US tour dates. Instead, they decided to move on to Japan. And in 1990, right before the Tokyo show, William and Jim had a big blowout and they almost stopped speaking to each other. When I say almost. They actually did for a time. By Christmas of that year in 1990, they still weren't talking to each other. And Jim Reed traveled to East Kilbride to spend Christmas with his parents. And during his visit, William called home to speak to his parents, wish him a merry Christmas. They basically just thrust the phone in Jim's face and just like, here, talk to your brother.

[Scott Free]

That's my best Scottish accent.

[Lori]

I was gonna say because you're, you're part Scottish.

[Scott Free]

So yeah, now I try not to do. I try not to do accents on this show because it's just a cringe worthy.

[Lori]

But anyway, yeah, so they begrudgingly made up.

[Scott Free]

So then 1991, they start to get significantly bigger, particularly in the UK. But when they do Peel Sessions on Radio 1 in England, John Peel, who has the band in his studio doing a Peel session, exposes you to a massive audience. And this got them a lot of attention. They've got a pretty big audience. They've got a lot of exposure on mtv. They've gotten a vast UK audience through the Peel sessions. The hype was big for what they are going to do next. Once again, from beautiful noise documentary film, an interview from that period. It's so good. The interviewer asks, so why are people so excited about you? And the reply is amazing. Because we are so good. Because we're so much better than everybody else. Because so many Other people are complete rubbish.

[Lori]

All right. So also in 91, the Reed brothers decided to buy their own recording studio in Elephant and Castle in the uk, which they named the Drugstore. I think that's hilarious. Yeah.

[Scott Free]

Because, like, part of the motivation behind that was if you are working in the record company studio or rented studio time, you are under the gun.

[Lori]

Right.

[Scott Free]

You're working on the clock and you have to produce and you have to produce within these hours or within these dates and get it done now. And that was not how they were most comfortable working.

[Jim Reid (Jesus and Mary Chain vocals)]

Right?

[Lori]

Absolutely. And so in that book Barbed Wire Kisses that I mentioned at the beginning of the episode, Jim actually explained when we were making Automatic, even though we got the studio reasonably priced, we just kept thinking, why are we paying all this money? We'd be thinking, rightly, that the budget on your average album is the same amount to buy an average studio. So we thought, well, let's not do this again. When you rent a studio, you have to be creative on demand. You have that limited time, and if the muse doesn't strike you, then you've just spent how many thousands of dollars dicking around? Right. So by owning their own studio, they could go in whenever they wanted. They could work at their own pace, they could work overnight if they wanted to, all hours. And it seemed like it was a decent investment for them.

[Scott Free]

Sure. Yeah. Which then gets us to this album, finally.

And while they could work at their studio at their leisure and knew their gear, this is still a big album with big expectations coming. So they're not self producing it? No, they're doing it at their studio. But they're bringing in big gun producer and a big gun engineer.

[Lori]

Okay. So for engineer, they brought in Flood, who is widely considered one of the best engineers in the UK.

[Scott Free]

You will remember him from our episode on U2's Achtung Baby. He was the engineer for that. And that is some Chef's Kiss top notch work.

[Lori]

And then they brought in Alan Molder. M O U L D E R.

Mulder and Scully.

[Scott Free]

That's right.

[Lori]

But he was an engineer and producer. He started off working for the band. He started off with Jesus and Mary Chain as the assistant engineer and he eventually worked his way up. He's now considered to be one of the UK's best engineers. He's worked with Nine Inch Nails, my Bloody Valentine, Foals, Arctic Monkeys and others.

[Scott Free]

Right on. So they bring in the heavy hitters and help make their producer one of the heavy hitters because the Jesus and Mary Chain sound is so distinctive. And is so heavily reliant on good engineering and good production. Right?

[Lori]

Yes. Yes.

[Scott Free]

There's studio magic happening and there's guitar and effect magic happening and beat production and sampling and looping, and they've got it all. And this album, I think, is where really comes together. This album is generally regarded to be where their sound becomes most consistent and becomes the Jesus and Mary chain that we come to know and love and that the album is the most even they're not hits and misses. It's kind of all hit.

[Lori]

Yeah, I would agree with that assessment. One other thing that we should mention here is, as you said earlier, Scott, the core of the band is the two Reed brothers, Jim and William. And they kind of had a rotating cast of supporting musicians throughout their career. But for this album, they were joined by Steve Monte on drums. Now, he was formerly a drummer for Curve, who I know you like. Great. Ian Durie and the Blockheads, who I love.

And later the Wilco Johnson Band. And he's also worked with the Cocteau Twins, so pretty impressive resume there. And so he joined the band in 92.

[Scott Free]

Right on. Just in time.

[Lori]

Just in time. Couple things worth noting about the album. It is called Honey's Dead, and that is actually a reference to that song off of their first album, Psycho Candy. Just like Honey, they were trying to send a message that this is no longer the same band that sound Honey, Honey's Dead.

[Scott Free]

All right, fair enough.

[Lori]

The album's cover is a painting by a Pre Raphaelite painter named Arthur Hughes. The painting is called Ophelia first version.

[Ad Voice 1]

I just thought that while holiday shopping is almost always fun, credit can be confusing. Download the MyFico app now and shop with confidence, knowing that you can stay on top of your credit 24. 7. Get your FICO score straight from the people that created it. Plus free credit monitoring and a free credit report every month. No credit card required. FICO scores are used by over 90% of lenders, so trust the Myfico app to keep you in the know. Visit myfico.com free or download the MyFico app.

[Lori]

Today was interesting. This then was the fourth studio album, right? Because we're not counting the Peel session. That's not really a studio album.

[Scott Free]

Correct.

[Lori]

And they also had like a B Sides compilation. We're not counting that one. So Honey's Dead was their fourth studio album released on March 22, 1992 on Blanco Inegro Records. It peaked at 14 in the UK, only went to 158 here in the USA. And this is why? And I know this is going to come up in a few of the songs that we talk about. I feel like Jesus and Mary Chain fans. We're like a secret club, you know, where it's like you only know about it if you're cool. And, Scott, you're cool because you and I have seen them live a few times together.

[Scott Free]

Oh, yeah, I believe I saw them@lollapalooza. 92 or 93 would have been the.

[Lori]

Tour supporting this album. Yeah.

[Scott Free]

Yeah. I have only the vaguest memory of having seen them at that Lollapalooza.

No follow up questions.

[Lori]

Don't do drugs, Kids in school.

[Scott Free]

With the history of the band and the history of the record behind us, I suppose that brings us to the point of this podcast. And that is the track by track. Here we go.

[Lori]

Yes. So the first track is called Reverence.

[Jim Reid (Jesus and Mary Chain vocals)]

I want to die just like Jesus Christ I want to die with a sp. I want to die Cozy parents to die I want to die just like Jesus Christ.

[Scott Free]

Oh, man, that driving, almost hip hop drum machine beat, that big buzzing guitar and I want to die just like Jesus Christ. That, my friends, is how you starred a Jesus and Mary Jane album in 1992.

[Lori]

Yes.

[Scott Free]

Just so cool, man.

[Lori]

The lyrics that you referenced actually are part of the reason that this song was banned from BBC tv. Now, it wasn't banned from the radio, but it was banned from television. And the video for the song features an American flag being shot full of bullets.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, the video, if we're going to jump right into that. It is a great and very 1992 video. Strobe lights, quick cuts, flashes of graphics of a crucifix, shaky cam, pictures of typewritten lyrics, the American flag, big star graphic dollar signs, Jesus and Mary chain, JMC logo just twitching. 1992. Cool.

[Lori]

So between the lyrics about I want to die just like JFK and that American flag being riddled with bullets, Jim Reed said we're inciting someone to shoot us on stage. And knowing our fucking luck, it'll happen. Lee Harvey Oswald's cousin will show up in Dallas and we'll be killed.

[Scott Free]

But they weren't killed. And damn, it's a great opener.

[Lori]

Yeah, it's so, so good. That's Jim Reed on lead vocals, by the way. They switch off vocal duty on this album.

[Scott Free]

Yeah. Generally, whoever was the primary songwriter on the song ended up being the lead vocalist on that song, right?

[Lori]

Oh, looking at the album, it just says Jim Reed and William Reed. All songs written by.

[Scott Free]

Yeah. Yes. But from the interviews that I'VE read. Basically one of them was more responsible for bringing the song to them. They co wrote it, but whoever's idea it was ended up being the guy who sang it.

[Lori]

Gotcha. That makes sense. And this song has everything that we love the Jesus and Mary chain for. Right. I mean it's got the dirty fuzzy guitar sound, just the really kind of heavy. But I don't want to use the word raw because it is very polished.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, but it's big and it's distorted, it's buzzing. Not just the fuzz, but it's got that huge buzz, almost industrial feeling. But it's still slick, right? It's both slick and fuzzy.

[Lori]

Yeah. And I can see why they drew some comparisons to some of the shoegaze bands. I think there's some crossover there.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, and they came up at the same time, they came up in the same place. And some of their production and guitar techniques are really similar. But yeah, they've. These guys have a lot more edge than. Well, certainly Cocteau Twins. Everybody has more edge than the Cocteau Twins. But there is some kinship with My Bloody Valentine here for sure. Oh yeah, you got that screaming feedback, right?

[Lori]

Absolutely.

[Scott Free]

And you know, I addressed it when I first started talking here about the drum programming, that this is pretty much a shuffle hip hop beat that they've got going throughout. And then additional drum machine elements come in. But there's also what sounds to be live drumming happening as well. And this band has always had a weird relationship with drums. In their early shows when it was just the Reed brothers facing the wrong way, the drummer more often than not was just playing a drum kit that was two drums, a big Tom and a snare and that was it. So as time goes on and Bobby Gillespie comes in, they get a more complex drum sound. But they are not afraid of electronics. They are not just a straight rock band. So yeah, they're bringing drum programming in and this. Yeah, this song has it all. It's so cool. And then there's an instrumental break in the middle that's somewhere between industrial and hip hop in its sound. And it wouldn't be out of place on a Nine Inch Nails record or a Public Enemy record. And then there's a guitar solo, like an actual bonafide guitar solo. They're known for their guitar sound, but it's usually these huge chords with all that fuzz and distortion and feedback. But then there's just a straight picked guitar line, single notes happening and it's hardly Hendrix, but it is groovy and dark. And cool. Like, that's the thing that. That's this band, not necessarily virtuoso, is playing technically difficult licks, but it's just always so freaking cool.

[Lori]

You got it right. Yep. I confess I did not realize that this was in a movie. I didn't know that they made a Pet Cemetery 2. I remember the first one. I didn't know they made a second one.

[Scott Free]

I don't know why they made a Pet Cemetery 2.

[Lori]

No, no. I mean, I suppose you can say that about a lot of movies with sequels, but that have been good. Yeah. The song was featured in the movie. It was released as the first single off the album on February 3rd of 1992.

[Scott Free]

Great choice.

[Lori]

It reached number 10 on the UK single chart and number 21 in Ireland.

[Scott Free]

Right on.

[Lori]

Yeah.

[Scott Free]

Like, not a lot of bands can just repeat I Want to Die over and over and over. To take the song out and not have it feel cartoonish or unintentionally comical. And maybe it's just the delivery, that sort of growly voice that Jim is using. But damn, like, you're. At least I am just like. Yeah, I feel that. I feel that. Jim Reed.

[Lori]

Yeah.

What do you think makes the perfect snack?

[Scott Free]

It's got to be when I'm really craving it and it's convenient.

[Lori]

Could you be more specific?

[Scott Free]

When it's cravenient.

[Jim Reid (Jesus and Mary Chain vocals)]

Okay.

[Scott Free]

Like a freshly baked cookie made with real butter, available right down the street at 8am p.m. or a savory breakfast.

[Ad Voice 1]

Sandwich I can grab in just a second at a.m. p.m.

[Lori]

I'm seeing a pattern here.

[Scott Free]

Well, yeah, we're talking about what I.

[Lori]

Crave, which is anything from am pm.

[Scott Free]

What more could you want? Stop by AMPM where the snacks and drinks are perfectly craveable and convenient. That's cravenience. Am PM Too much Good stuff.

[Lori]

That's all I got on that one.

[Scott Free]

I feel like that's plenty. All right, let's proceed with caution and more than a little shame to track two. Teenage lust.

[Jim Reid (Jesus and Mary Chain vocals)]

Little skinny girl she's doing it for the good time.

Little skinny girl she's doing it.

Time.

She's taking a moment.

Holding on and my.

Got it.

[Scott Free]

This song just makes me feel sleazy.

[Lori]

Okay.

[Scott Free]

Uneasy and like, I'm pretty sure that is the desired effect. Like, that's what they're going for. But, like, if you dig too deep into the lyrics of this song, like, if you look at the lyrics to this song all like, it is just straight up sleazy. You don't even have to get into the lyrics. Let's just start with the title, Teenage Lost. We've talked a little bit about their biography and the formation of the band. But, like, this song came out when the Reed brothers were checking my notes. William's 34 and Jim is 31, respectively. So, yeah, like, Teenage Lust feels like maybe none of their business by this point in their lives.

[Lori]

I gotcha. So it's kind of like a Ted Nugent thing, huh?

[Scott Free]

Yeah, but. Okay, let's just suppose they're singing about teenagers in lust. Maybe. But then you get into 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 so that There is no way to excuse this one.

[Lori]

Well, unless they're singing about an experience that had happened when they were teens.

[Scott Free]

Okay, we'll let that go. And maybe she's 19, I guess. Marginally better, but still teenage. But it. It's not. It's not better. This song is sleazy and there's no two ways about that.

[Lori]

Well, and there's not much to it lyrically, and that's true. I think of a lot of the songs on this album. The strength is in the instrumentation and the layers.

[Scott Free]

The delivery of those lyrics, it kind of. It's one of those where it doesn't matter what they're saying because they say it so cool. Sometimes it's the breathy delivery, sometimes it's the growly delivery, but it's delivered with this weird detachment, but again, this detached cool. Right?

[Lori]

Yeah. And that's Jim Reed again on the vocals.

[Jim Reid (Jesus and Mary Chain vocals)]

Yeah.

[Scott Free]

Like, they're not talking philosophy, like, say, Stereo Lab or French poetry. And they're not doing super clever word play like Sloan. If you haven't checked out the Stereo Lab or Sloan episodes, when you're done with this one, go check them out too. But we got plenty of Jesus, Mary Chain, Honey's Dead left.

[Lori]

Yeah, I was gonna say they're gonna have like six or seven episodes in their queue after this.

[Scott Free]

Oh, you've got your work cut out for you. But you should be listening to this whole series anyways. We're quite good.

[Lori]

Ah, yes, we are, if I do say so myself.

[Scott Free]

But yeah, this is another track that has a video and it is just as sleazy as you would expect it to be. Jesus and Mary Chain on a tiny stage in front of a red tinsel curtain in a very low rent strip club. And as you start watching the video and it goes on like I have in my Notes here. God damn, that stripper's full on naked now. The band is playing, Jim is sitting on the edge of the stage singing, and the stripper is doing what strippers do. Although, is it weird and nerdy of me that. Okay, sure, very attractive naked girl dancing around, but I actually prefer it when she's wearing the supergirl half shirt.

[Lori]

Okay.

[Scott Free]

Is it weird and too nerdy that I actually prefer her when she's wearing the supergirl V neck ringer half shirt?

[Lori]

A little bit.

[Scott Free]

I'm okay with this.

[Jim Reid (Jesus and Mary Chain vocals)]

Okay.

[Scott Free]

Sleazy lyrics, sleazy video. It's a whole sleazy package. And you know, I can wring my hands about the appropriateness of the subject matter, but oh man, it's really well done.

[Lori]

Yeah. And I mean, if you didn't know the title was Teenage Lust, you might not even glom onto what it's about, right.

[Scott Free]

Unless you heard any of the lyrics at all. But that's kind of the thing about the delivery of the lyrics in that sleazy growl with the detached cool with the really fuzzy guitars and these big crunchy chords. You're not intended to focus so much on the words, the specific meaning of the words, so much as yard. Let this just sonic experience wash over you. At least that's what I'm going to use as my excuse for still wanting to listen to this really sleazy song.

[Lori]

Okay.

[Scott Free]

I think the less said about this one the better. Let's move on.

[Lori]

Okay. All right. Well, the next track also has Jim Reed on lead vocals. This one is called Far Gone and Out.

[Jim Reid (Jesus and Mary Chain vocals)]

Good. If you're feeling kissing on the tongue I'm taking my thoughts to Railways vision Come on a train to see what's coming back.

What'S coming back.

It'S coming like a heart attack.

[Lori]

This one. It's almost a bouncy pop song.

[Scott Free]

Right?

[Lori]

Yeah. Where, you know, you mentioned the Shangri Las and who was the other band you mentioned?

[Ad Voice 2]

Tired of juggling sales tools or spending hours on prospecting just to book a few meetings? Meet Apollo, the go to market platform for finding leads, connecting with buyers and closing deals all in one place. Apollo gives you access to over 210 million contacts and AI that handles all your busywork. Finding leads, drafting emails, and even prioritizing your day. So stop paying for five different sales tools when one does it all. Visit Apollo I.O. and sign up free today.

[Lori]

That was kind of bouncy.

[Scott Free]

The run at.

[Lori]

Oh, yes, yes, yes. And I could kind of see, you know, with maybe some changes to the instrumentation. I Could see, see, this being a, a big song in the 60s, you.

[Scott Free]

Know, like, it's got a big Phil Spector version of Motown thing, the wall of sound, but with a lot more crunch to it.

[Lori]

Yes. And I didn't get to do the end of the song because, you know, we're limited. But that whole hey, hey, hey.

[Scott Free]

Oh, yeah.

[Lori]

Ah, that just, that's an earworm, you know, it just grabs a hold of me and won't let go.

[Scott Free]

Yeah. Sing alongable driving in your car with the top down. If you had a car with you could take the top down on. But yeah, that, that dance rock beat, I think, is absolutely critical here. It's that shuffle dance rock beat, but with like an actual drum kit really being in the forefront, unlike the previous couple songs where the programming was at the fore. But it's got these. It's got this actual drum kit, not just the program drums, that so much dance rock of the era. And I'm looking in your direction, Manchester was doing. But like, not no program beats either, though. Like when everything drops out but the fuzz bass at the 1 minute 40 mark, there's clearly some programmed shaker and high bells and high rototoms going. But yeah, between that and the hey, hey, hey, this could be a Manchester track. Really?

[Lori]

Oh, yeah. You know, the other thing that I really noticed is the tambourine, which is like front and center, which is really actually kind of unusual for these boys.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, I mean, yeah, it makes it feel poppier than they usually go for, but still with that signature guitar sound throughout. Not a lot of people were making pop music that sounded like this.

[Lori]

Scott this was the second single released off of the album. They released it as a single on March 2, in 92. And in September of 92, September 14, the band went on the David Letterman show.

Yeah, this was a little bit of a fiasco, I guess, for lack of a better word.

[Scott Free]

It's its rollback to their early live show fiasco.

[Lori]

Yeah. So their U.S. tour manager, Jerry Jaffe, organized a big after party, but somehow the dates got crossed and so they ended up having the party the night before on the 13th.

[Scott Free]

That is not how after parties work. That's a pre party.

[Lori]

Yes.

[Scott Free]

And there's no good reason to be pre partying before you go on Letterman.

[Lori]

Jim Reed said, and this is quoted in the book Barbed Wire Kisses. Again, there were all sorts of temptations, drugs, all the things that rock and roll bands have at their disposal. We got seriously fucked up. I didn't sleep at all that night. I was just twitching around at five in the morning thinking, I don't know where I am, I don't remember what city I'm in. I don't know if I know what my name is. And then William was having some kind of freak out and he was convinced that he'd been possessed by the devil in the middle of the night and then saved by Jesus, only to be possessed by the devil again.

[Scott Free]

Ah, tug of war with your eternal soul.

[Lori]

Right. By the time the limo came to pick them up to take them to the Letterman show, they were both a mess. They were extremely hungover. They were a little upset because Letterman had his own backing band with Paul Shaffer and they were primarily jazz musicians. So they wanted to do all these funky jazz riffs. And the Reed brothers were like, dude, just play it the way it is on the album. Which apparently was really hard for them to do. One of the band members was wearing these bright red pants that apparently were giving William.

Some kind of visual sensory overstimulation. Yes, yes, yes. And then by the time they got the song done, it was kind of awkward. And I think if you look on YouTube, you can find this. David Letterman went to shake Jim Reed's hand and he basically, he just ended up shaking nobody's hand. He'd like air because Jim had no idea what was going on. Right. But you know what? Despite this, David Letterman still remained a huge fan.

[Scott Free]

And of course the lesson here is, as always, kids, don't do drugs, stay in school.

[Lori]

Dude, I need to make some merchandise that says that. Scott, I need to make some merchandise. I think we could make a killing.

[Scott Free]

I'm into it. Maybe don't watch the Letterman version because it was the second single. They did make a video for this one as well. It's pretty good video. Again, very much in the 1992 mode. Candy colored lighting. The image goes to negative. Sometimes the cuts are not quite as aggressively quick as we saw in, say, reverence. But you know, it's a good, solid, straightforward, very 1992 looking video. Highly recommend. Without all the guilt and shame of the Teenage Lust video.

[Lori]

See, now you keep coming back to that. You keep saying it makes you uncomfortable and yet you keep bringing it up.

[Scott Free]

No further questions.

[Lori]

Okay, so this song did reach number 23 on the UK Singles Chart and number 88 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart in May of 92. However, it did not chart here in the US.

[Scott Free]

I guess that brings us to track four, almost gold.

[Jim Reid (Jesus and Mary Chain vocals)]

Give away.

Was I the time to say.

I can give you more than This.

I was born and it was place.

I died for thousand years. Taste of all.

[Lori]

There's that tambourine again.

[Scott Free]

Yeah. I mean, this band is not afraid of pop. Right. If we look at that list of influences that we went to earlier between the 60s girl groups and the Monkeys, like, they like pop. They don't mind a tambourine, and they're going for it here. But, yeah, this song starts off feeling like it's going to be a softer guitar, strummy alternative pop rock track. And especially when that soaring strings line, that violin line comes in, it's like, oh, this is just a straight up pop song. This could be Duran Duran, practically.

[Lori]

I don't think I'd go that far.

[Scott Free]

No, but you get what I'm saying.

[Lori]

Yeah, yeah.

[Scott Free]

Then the chorus comes in and really hits you with those huge, fuzzy Jesus and Mary chain guitars. Even with all that, though, it is a pretty soft and sweet track for these guys.

[Lori]

Yeah. And that's actually William Reed singing on this track. I have difficulty telling their voices apart because they're so similar.

[Scott Free]

Yeah. I think if I'm not off my mark, Jim is the growlier one and William is the breathier.

[Lori]

I think that's a fair assessment.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, that's right. But we'll have to keep looking as we go through the rest of the album.

Again, the drum track feels like there's a drum machine as the foundation, but then with actual live drums over it. So it's fitting, really in with the rest of the music of 1992, but again with that big, fuzzy distorty Jesus and Mary Jane guitar sound that makes it all their own.

Fourth track in a row on this album that comes with a music video. This one has video for. This one features a lot of rich, saturated, warm colors, gold tones, but then contrasted with blue welding sparks, so you get a classic 90s lighting scheme of rich gold tones with a cold blue or green against it. It's a very 90s video, but in. In the best way. And then there's some gold body painted braid sporting dream girl dancing in front of a cauldron of fire. And who doesn't like that?

[Lori]

Yeah, right. I mean, that's like Saturday night over here.

[Scott Free]

I mean, maybe that's just me and my Burning man thing, but, yeah, I would say that's not something you see every day, but I guess it depends which week.

[Jim Reid (Jesus and Mary Chain vocals)]

Yeah.

[Lori]

Yeah. So Almost Gold was released as the third single from the album on June 22 of 92, and it reached number 41 on the UK single chart.

[Scott Free]

All right. We've talked in the past where if all of the singles on the album are front loaded at the very beginning, that that may not be a great sign and that you're looking at an album where they're just front loading it because that's all you're going to listen to and that the rest of the album is filler. Definitely not the case on Honey's Dad. It just gets better.

[Lori]

As my buddy Hayden would say. It's all killer. No filler.

[Scott Free]

Agreed.

[Lori]

All right. I guess that brings us to the next track.

[Scott Free]

Yes.

[Lori]

This is called Sugar Ray.

[Ad Voice 2]

God, I love AI Agents are everywhere, automating tasks and making decisions at machine speed.

[Scott Free]

But agents make mistakes.

[Ad Voice 2]

Just one rogue agent can do big damage before you even notice. Rubrik Agent Cloud is the only platform that helps you monitor agents, set guardrails and rewind mistakes so you can unleash agents, not risk. Accelerate your AI [e-mail]. that's R U B R-I K dot com.

[Lori]

This one.

[Jim Reid (Jesus and Mary Chain vocals)]

Good. Could you do it right? Did you get that thing coming up your spine? Did you feel the heat of my sugar race With a sun and light shining on your face? All my friends have the wind come.

But all I want is. She knows.

[Scott Free]

Oh, man. The guitar on this one, that almost percussive guitar that you get right out the gate with, like, delay, I want to say, making the stuttering happen. So noisy, so discordant, and just this persistent musical itch that just really gets me, man.

[Lori]

It's definitely got some industrial elements to it, doesn't it?

[Scott Free]

For sure, right?

[Lori]

Yeah.

[Scott Free]

Oh, yeah, on that. For sure. There's like this swelling, buzzing guitar again. Very Jesus and Mary chain. And then there's like another. It's like this screeching kind of Godzilla roar when the first verse starts so good and, like, it's pretty much the same sound that Trent Reznor will go on to use on the downward spiral on Reptile. Like, it's game screeching like it's. Seriously. It's like Godzilla roaring. It's why he uses it in Reptile. But yeah, I was delighted to hear that here.

[Lori]

All right.

[Scott Free]

Yeah.

[Lori]

So the first time I ever heard this song. Scott.

[Scott Free]

Yes.

[Lori]

Do you remember a movie called Freejack?

[Scott Free]

Of course I remember Freejack. It is a great, terrible movie.

[Lori]

Wow. It's so bad. It's good.

[Scott Free]

But, oh, man, I want to say, like, Free Jack. It's an Emilio Estevez vehicle with time travel and Mick Jagger.

[Lori]

Yes, Mick Jagger and Dennis Hopper.

[Scott Free]

Am I right in Dennis Hopper?

[Lori]

No, Anthony Hopkins.

[Scott Free]

There we go. Yes, yes. Great. Terrible movie.

[Lori]

Mick Jagger steals every scene he is in. He is fantastic. David Johansson's also in it.

[Scott Free]

Foster. Nice.

[Lori]

Rene Russo. I mean.

You know what? It is a fun, fun movie. Okay, so the movie came out in 92. It was one of those, like, dark future things where the future was 2009.

[Scott Free]

So far in the future, who knows.

[Lori]

What will happen, Right? But I love that movie so much. If you haven't seen Free Jack listeners, go check it out. It is a lot of fun.

[Scott Free]

Now you are getting on this freejack soapbox because.

[Lori]

Because this song was featured in the movie and that's the first time I heard it.

[Scott Free]

There we are. Yes. Also.

I just read. I don't remember this firsthand, but I read it and it cracked me up. It was also used as the background music for a 1993 commercial for Bud Ice. Do you remember when every beer had to have an ice version?

[Lori]

Yeah.

[Scott Free]

Thanks for nothing, Ice House.

Lyrics on this one. Okay, so we've said. We said earlier that you can kind of gloss over some of the lyrics. Although, you know, I want to die Just like Jesus Christ. Cool as hell, man. Here. All my friends have fun with guns but all I want is you like, that is a very sweet and menacing sort of sentiment. Jim Reed. I'm gonna guess this is a Jim Reed track.

[Lori]

Yes, this is Jim Reed.

[Jim Reid (Jesus and Mary Chain vocals)]

There we are.

[Scott Free]

And then. Did you read my poem? Did you get my poem? Did it break your bones? Almost broke my bones. I don't know what you're talking about, Jim, but damn, you sound cool. Right? I mean, ultimately, that's kind of what it is with these lyrics is they're not going to change your life or make you ponder the mysteries of the universe. It's just shit that sounds cool to say.

[Lori]

Now, I'm going to take a leap here, please. About what?

[Scott Free]

I enjoy your lyrical leaps.

[Lori]

All right, the last verse. God, it felt so good. Oh, it felt so good. Did you feel that heat? Did you feel the heat of my Sugar Ray? Sugar Ray I almost died, died, died, died, died that is, to me, extremely sexual. We're talking about le petit mort.

[Scott Free]

We're talking about what?

[Lori]

Le petit mort.

Right. Did you feel the heat of my Sugar Ray? I mean, kind of gross when you think about it, but probably don't want.

[Scott Free]

To think about it too hard.

[Lori]

Maybe we should move on to the next one.

[Scott Free]

Let's move on. That brings us to track six, Tumble Down.

[Jim Reid (Jesus and Mary Chain vocals)]

She's a chick I could miss, Couldn't miss, Couldn't miss her Little twist Give it all and give it good Couldn't get She.

Took your time and took your taste.

Outside my space All I wanted was too much All I wanted was to touch.

[Lori]

Another bouncy pop tune with industrial guitar sounds.

[Jim Reid (Jesus and Mary Chain vocals)]

Right.

[Scott Free]

It's a boppy beat that again shows how Jesus Mary Chain kind of wears their influence on their sleeves. It's part Ramones, part Ronettes, but then slathered in that fuzz. Not slathered like nearly as thickly as a lot of their other tracks, but still buzzy, slathered, fuzzy guitar.

[Lori]

And the German band that you mentioned earlier, Einstein Neubaten. Bless you. They actually sampled one of their songs called tanzibil at the 125 mark. It was about 18 seconds of that German song. All right, and that's Jim Reed on the lead vocals.

[Scott Free]

Again, there are lyrics to this one. And it's all about infatuation with a girl who's cool as all get out and pretty much indifferent to our boy. I mean, she will slip right to him, but then slide right through him. Poetically put, but you get it that she's just kind of taking him and leaving him. Honestly, the lyrics are so vague and couched in cool language that I don't really have any idea what he's actually talking about. But the line I'm in deep up to my head Give it all until I'm dead seems pretty clear. He's got it bad for this girl. She's using him and throwing him away. And then the song ends on Tumble down, which comes out of nowhere. Like the phrase does not seem to have much of anything to do with the verses or choruses up to this point, but just Tumble down repeated over and over until then it drops out and it is just our drummer, Steve Monty pounding it out. I mean, it's like he missed the ending, just kept going and then was like, oh, I guess we're done then. Okay, I'll stop.

[Ad Voice 1]

When it's time to scale your business. It's time for Shopify. Get everything you need to grow the way you want, like all the way.

Stack more sales with the best converting checkout on the planet. Track your cha chings from every channel right in one spot and turn real time reporting into big time opportunities. Take your business to a whole new level. Switch to Shopify. Start your free trial today.

[Scott Free]

And then he stops.

[Lori]

So that word tumble down.

[Scott Free]

Yeah.

[Lori]

In the context of what you just explained about the gal, I think it's falling head over heels for somebody.

[Scott Free]

I'll go with that.

[Lori]

Yeah, but, you know, if he's striking out, then he's falling on his face, isn't he?

[Jim Reid (Jesus and Mary Chain vocals)]

Yeah.

[Scott Free]

Tumbling down in a violent way.

[Lori]

Yes. Yeah. And that's Jim Reed again on the lead vocals.

[Scott Free]

That tracks.

[Lori]

So Scott flipping the album over. That's so quaint, isn't it?

[Scott Free]

Side two.

[Lori]

Side two. The next song is called Catch Fire.

[Scott Free]

One word, right?

[Lori]

Catch fire. Catch fire.

[Jim Reid (Jesus and Mary Chain vocals)]

Nowhere in the world.

Nowhere it.

[Scott Free]

Do I like this band so much that I just go way too easy on them. Like, do I give these guys too much of a free pass?

[Lori]

How do you mean?

[Scott Free]

Because I'm trying to look at the song objectively and, like, the opening guitar line, simple. And then the rest of the band kicks in. Like, simple shuffled program, drum beat, plus some live drums over it. A simple bass line. Yeah, it moves around, but it's repetitive. You got the shoe, gazy, signature Jesus and Mary chain guitar sound, the stuttering feedback, the obligatory fuzz, some wah. And yes, I've long admitted that I am a sucker for the wah. The breathy vocals delivering lyrics that are almost meaningless but sound cool because of the words and phrases that they use. Like, if you just sing Catch Fire and we're gonna crucify her, it's like, I don't really know what you're talking about, but that's pretty cool, man. Like, it is a super simple song structurally, musically, lyrically, and yet it's just so damn cool that I don't care. I'm like, God damn, that distortion that he's doing now is so damn cool. And, yeah, it's just awesome.

[Lori]

Yes.

[Scott Free]

And this is one of the filler songs on the album.

[Lori]

And that's William on vocals on this one, which surprised me.

[Scott Free]

The breathy vocals. That's going to be William. I'm finally learning this is one of the filler songs. I can't wait to do one of the next really strong songs going.

[Lori]

They keep returning to lyrical themes, especially on this album, but also some of their other albums. But that we're going to crucify her. And we started off the album with I want to die Just like Jesus Christ.

[Scott Free]

I mean, it's right there in the name of the band, right?

[Lori]

Yeah, I suppose that's true. But are they gospel music?

[Scott Free]

They are totally gospel music.

Gospel according to the Brothers Reed. Yes.

[Lori]

Well, here's another lyric for that one that's interesting. Please disengage. You waste me, baby all over my face Kiss some dirt and make me, baby in another place Nothing to say now, honey Nothing to do, baby Catch fire. Yeah. I have no idea what he's talking about. Oh, my dear. It could be a number of things.

[Scott Free]

Some of them sexy, some of them violent.

[Lori]

Yeah, maybe a little of both.

[Scott Free]

These guys, there's some crossover there.

[Jim Reid (Jesus and Mary Chain vocals)]

Mm.

[Scott Free]

Yeah. Sleazy. This is a sleazy van. And that's their strength, not their weakness, among their strengths.

[Lori]

Okay, well, that's all I got on that one.

[Scott Free]

I feel like that's plenty. All right.

That brings us to track eight. Good for my soul.

[Jim Reid (Jesus and Mary Chain vocals)]

Soul.

Close to my soul.

She'S close to my soul.

I should have let her know.

I should have let her know.

[Scott Free]

Like, it's a weird one, right? Like, it's mid tempo, Jesus and Mary Jane almost plodding, but it has these bright major chords happening.

[Lori]

Mm.

[Scott Free]

It's like a brisk funeral march on a bright sunny day.

[Lori]

It's a little bit unexpected, especially after all the really dark, gritty songs that came before. And this one is Jim Reed on the vocals.

[Scott Free]

I buy that.

[Lori]

You know, one of the words that comes to mind as we were listening to that just now is cinematic. So by that I mean as I'm listening to it, I can visualize scenes in a video or in a movie. And like, I could just see whoever, our protagonist of our make believe movie and his lover, you know, lying on a bed. You see rain hitting the window outside the bedroom, and they're just kind of laying there, just kind of holding each other. Wow.

[Scott Free]

Evocative.

[Lori]

Yeah. And I mean, that just popped into my head a few minutes ago. But I love that I tend to do that with music. I tend to visualize things like that. And then it gets a little confusing because then if I were to say something like, hey, you know that part where she puts her head on his chest and. What? What are you talking about? Because I forget. It's all in my mind.

[Scott Free]

You're experiencing the album synesthesia. I don't know what the adverbial form of that word is.

[Lori]

Oh. Not the way that most people who have synesthesia, like my friend Foxy has synesthesia where she can see sounds. Like literally she can see sound waves and stuff.

[Scott Free]

Cool.

[Lori]

This is not like that visual kind of synesthesia. This is more just in my brain. I see everything completely unfolding. You know what I mean?

[Scott Free]

Provoking your imagination.

[Lori]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you know, I've always been over imaginative, so.

[Scott Free]

So bear back to the music though.

[Lori]

Yeah. Okay.

[Scott Free]

They make this ridiculously simple baseline and these guitar chords that are really the same chord just on this repeated eighth note thing, two measures At a time, they make that sound interesting. It's simple, without being simplistic. And they change it up. The song progresses and layers on that. And again, like we've talked about in an earlier track, some of the sounds on this song feel almost industrial. And that's been a theme we've seen earlier. You hear the Godzilla roar that I mentioned earlier on Sugar Ray used to great effect. And then track has another one that feels right out of the Nine Inch Nails playbook. It's on the. And of the third note of the measure, this buzzing, screeching sound they presumably make with a guitar, then sampled and looped. And I guess what I'm saying is that these guys are masters of guitar noise and sonic pastiche. And that's not a particularly novel observation about them, but this song is where it really. Multiple techniques are all happening at once. And it is complex and just, yeah, almost industrial in the way that it is collaged together. Like, in their early days, they got kind of lumped in with the shoegaze scene. And while I don't think it's a label that totally applies, certainly by the time they get to this point in their career, they're still using some of the sonic techniques and production techniques that came out of shoegaze and that they helped pioneer in shoegaze. But now they've got these electronic elements that are as much at home in industrial or in hip hop as in any other genre. But they are using it to craft that very specific Jesus and Mary chain sound. It doesn't sound like they're trying to be an industrial band. They're not trying to be hip hop. They're not trying to be Manchester. But they are growing and progressing and incorporating new techniques into their sound and making it their own. And I think that's a really important distinction. They are definitely not bandwagon jumping, but they're also not staying static and making the same album over and over again. It's evolution as artists. And it is insane to me that this album didn't sell as much as it could have because this is this album at the peak of their powers.

[Lori]

So, Scott, you mentioned bass. And interestingly enough, there are no bassists credited on this album. It's William Jim on guitars and vocals, both of them, and Steve Monti on drums. So I don't know if that means one of the brothers Reed picked up a bass or if they sampled something or. I don't know.

[Scott Free]

I also don't know that, but that is fascinating.

[Lori]

So the last four songs on the album are all sung by William Reed.

[Jim Reid (Jesus and Mary Chain vocals)]

Interesting.

[Lori]

Yes. It kind of makes me wonder a little bit too why they would sequence it that way. Now, you did point out that William tends to be breathier and, you know, his songs maybe are a little more ballady.

[Scott Free]

They tend to be the softer ones. Yes. Both in his voice and the instruments.

[Lori]

Yeah. So I don't know if they're like putting those together because the similarity so the album flows, or if it's something with the rivalry with the two brothers where Jim's songs all ended up first. I'm speculating. I have no idea.

[Scott Free]

A fine question, but I would say that these last tracks on the album do have an interesting trajectory of their own and that that softer side of the band does play out. Until it doesn't.

[Lori]

All right, so then let's start with the next track, which is called Roller Coaster.

[Jim Reid (Jesus and Mary Chain vocals)]

Got in the Train Back to wherever they Came.

I don't think.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, this is a much more straightforward pop rock bop, particularly in the verses. Right. And again, it could practically be that 60s girl group thing we were talking about Ronettes or the Shangri Las or even Ramon's thing kind of. But then during the first chorus, you get a little more aggressively distorted fuzzy and buzzy guitar chords. Right. It starts off feeling much poppier and then. Okay, no, this is still a Jesus and Mary chain version of pop, right?

[Lori]

Yeah.

[Scott Free]

So, yeah, you got that big chorus and then the instrumental break. This, I think, is where the song gets really interesting for me. The instrumental break between the first chorus and the second verse is weird in that at first it's got like this finer guitar line, bright individually picked notes, like out of Poppy. So, hell, it's almost like a slightly harder version of the Laws. There she goes in this sort of lilting guitar line. Right. Then there's a couple measures of this fuzz bass that transitions then to the huge Jesus and Mary chain super fuzzy, rapid fire chords. This song has a lot of directions in it, has a lot of ups and downs, almost like a roller coaster. And now I get the title of the song.

[Lori]

Ah, okay, that makes sense because the.

[Scott Free]

Lyrics have nothing to do with a roller coaster, right?

[Lori]

No, not at all.

[Scott Free]

That, I think, is the band commenting on the structure and sound of the song is it's got these huge ups and then it comes down and then bam, it hits you again. This is the ups and downs of a roller coaster, man.

[Lori]

Yeah, it's a sonic roller coaster, right?

[Scott Free]

Yeah.

[Lori]

This song was actually released in 1990 on an EP, but this isn't the.

[Scott Free]

Version that was on that 1990 EP.

[Lori]

Correct. This version has live drums, presumably Steve Monti, and there's no echo on William Reed's voice. If you go back to the EP version, there's an echo on there.

[Scott Free]

A reverb, right?

[Lori]

Echo, reverb, yeah.

[Scott Free]

All right, then track 10 is. I can't get enough.

[Jim Reid (Jesus and Mary Chain vocals)]

I can't get enough of you. God gave me strength and I gave it to you. I can stick to my spine. What can I do? I can never, ever, ever get enough of you.

[Lori]

Boy, I tell you, Scott, your ears must be better than mine because I cannot tell William and Jim's voices apart.

[Scott Free]

Yeah. This one I would not be able to say.

[Lori]

I know that this one is William, but it's William.

[Scott Free]

But he's sending it. Instead of doing the sleepier, breathier thing.

[Lori]

There you go.

[Scott Free]

But it doesn't have the growl, the little bit of gravel that Jim sometimes has. Whatever. Right before we get to that, if we want to address that, like, this song has a cold open, like the opening chord, the drum beat, and the first words all happen all at once. The very start of the song, they just hit the ground running, right? Bam. Song has started and we're singing already. But among those very first elements are the lyrics. And this is another one, you know, where they're just. Isn't all that much going on in the lyrics. I can't get enough of you. God gave me strength and I gave it to you. I've got sticks in my spine, so what can I do? I can never, ever get enough of you. You're my kind. You're my kind. Honey, you're so cool. You're so cool. These are not life changing lyrics. They're saying words so they can say them and sound cool saying them. Right. But, like, these are bubblegum pop teenage love song lyrics.

[Lori]

I'll accept that part. You're my kind. You're my kind. You'll be the death of me. You'll be the death of me.

[Scott Free]

Well, all right. So it's bubblegum pop teenage love song lyrics, but the flavor of that bubble gum is like gasoline and strychnine.

[Lori]

Gasoline and strychnine flavored bubble gum.

[Scott Free]

Dude, you remember when Bubblicious put that out? It was wildly unpopular.

[Lori]

You're so weird. Are we talking about, again, a band?

[Scott Free]

All right.

[Lori]

I can't get enough.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, I mean, this song's fine.

[Jim Reid (Jesus and Mary Chain vocals)]

Yeah.

[Scott Free]

It's not a dud, but it's not the strongest on the album. But, you know, it's a solid Example of a workman like Jesus, Mary, Chainsaw.

[Lori]

A workman like. Yeah, okay. I don't know what that means.

[Scott Free]

It's not one of their masterpieces, but it's like. Yeah, Solid.

[Lori]

Okay.

[Scott Free]

Turn that one in. You got a solid B. Great.

[Lori]

Okay.

[Scott Free]

Teacher.

Says the professor.

[Lori]

Well, you were a professor before I was a professor.

[Scott Free]

Long time ago.

[Lori]

Shall we move on to the penultimates track?

[Scott Free]

We might as well.

[Lori]

Okay. This one is called Sundown.

[Jim Reid (Jesus and Mary Chain vocals)]

Say.

I Pray for me Remember I breathe I breathe.

Grown up twins together A place you can't see.

Can'T see.

The planet.

[Scott Free]

I may want this song to be played at my funeral.

[Lori]

Really?

[Scott Free]

I mean, that's the sundown they're talking about.

Yeah. You just heard these lyrics, but let's say them a little more clearly. Say a prayer for me Remember I breathe I breathe Grown up Twisted in a place you can't see can't see the planet poisoned me Is a sick place to be to be I've got a taste for it now I've gotta leave Go away Sun's coming down Sun's coming down on me.

It'S super sad and yet done in that William Reed version of the Jesus and Mary Chain that is soft, almost sunny, but still has the obligatory guitar darkness to it, but with these bright kind of sunny chords. Yeah. For a song that is about death and dying and checking out the sun going down on you, man, it manages to make it feel nice.

[Lori]

Yeah. The last verse. The planet's more up Than I'll ever be I'll ever be I've got a taste for it now I've gotta leave.

[Scott Free]

I'm saying I may want this song played at my funeral.

[Lori]

All right, well, if I outlive you, I will make sure that that happens.

[Scott Free]

I appreciate that.

[Lori]

Yeah.

[Scott Free]

It's also the longest song on the album, coming in at just one second, under five minutes.

[Lori]

Yeah. Followed by the shortest song on the album.

[Scott Free]

Yeah. You would think this song about death, dying, checking out, and the sun going down would be an album closer. I mean, it certainly has that note of finality. But then they bring the whole album full circle when they take us to the final track on the album. Track 12, frequency.

[Jim Reid (Jesus and Mary Chain vocals)]

I wanna die. Jesus christ.

[Lori]

Wow. Deja vu, huh?

[Scott Free]

Yeah. It's a weird and brief reprise of track one, Reverence. Unmistakable. Although the instrumentation is different and different vocalist to William now instead of Jim, as it was on track one. I want to die like Jesus Christ.

[Lori]

On a bed of spikes.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, we're dealing with the same track and only dealing with it for 1 minute and 22 seconds. It is a brief bookend to the album that just brings us back full circle.

[Lori]

There you go.

[Scott Free]

It's a more straightforward rock track without as much electronic fuckery. And don't get me wrong, I love me some electronic fuckery, as you well know by this point. But this is a much more stripped down version, at least production wise. It's still plenty and thick and chewy from a guitar and effects standpoint, but it's also brighter, although still kind of menacing. It's still talking about dying like Jesus Christ and. Or jfk. But, yeah, one other interesting point. I didn't put this together, but it makes perfect sense. I was reading a Reddit thread about this track, and a Reddit user whose name has since been deleted, but a Reddit user pointed out that the repetition of Radio on that comes towards the end of the song is almost certainly an homage to. To Jonathan Richmond and the Modern Lovers Roadrunner.

[Lori]

I don't know it, trust me.

[Scott Free]

Oh, you. You've heard it before. But Radio on, yes, it's Jesus Mary Chain, giving a nod to Roadrunner. And that, I think, is where we get the title to this song. Because the word frequency does not appear in the lyrics at any point, does it?

[Lori]

No.

[Scott Free]

Yeah. Radio On. That's the frequency on the radio in the car a la the roadrunner of Jonathan Richmond and the Modern Lovers Roadrunner. It's all coming together. That's why it's Frequency. This is the Road Trip version of Reverence. Yeah.

[Lori]

Mind blown.

[Scott Free]

Right. Hedge that blew open. And that's, you know, that's to be expected with the Jesus Mary Chain album, right?

[Lori]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Scott Free]

And that makes sense. It's going all the way back to the early history of the band when they were signed to Alan McGee's Creation Records. Part of the idea behind Creation Records was to marry punk rock and psychedelia. And I think the Reed Brothers, they maybe lost some of the punk edge, but not that punk energy. And they weren't doing psychedelia quite to the extent that say My Bloody Valentine was. But it's still in there in that swirling, chewy, fuzzy, distorted feedbacky guitar thing that is their signature sound.

[Lori]

So.

[Scott Free]

So this is the point in the episode where we usually say, what was your favorite track? So, Laurie, what was your favorite track on Honey's Dead?

[Lori]

I think this is the first time you've ever asked me before I got to ask you.

[Scott Free]

I'm stepping my game up.

[Lori]

All right, so I'm between two tracks. My initial response was going to be Sugar Ray. However, I think I'm going to go with Far Gone and out that. Hey, hey, hey, that's just. It's too catchy.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, that's so hooky, so sing alongable. That is understandable. However, I have a clear runaway favorite and it's the one you didn't pick. Sugar Ray for me. It that percussive delay guitar stutter thing happening, the beats, the industrial Godzilla roar, the lyrics just being so dark and so cool. Yeah. Sugar Ray is for me the best track in an album. Mostly made of really great tracks. And even those tracks that aren't really great, they're still solid workman, like, good. Not a dud on the album as far as I'm concerned.

[Lori]

Yeah, I agree, I agree. Well, Scott, and then what happened?

[Scott Free]

Right? Well, as we talked about earlier, the Jesus Mary chain toured in support of Honey's Dead quite extensively. They did play at Lollapalooza in 1992, which back then Lollapalooza was the touring version of Lollapalooza. So I saw them in Detroit for that one. But they toured a lot for a full year to support Honey's Dead. While they were beginning promotion for their 1994 album, Stoned and Dethroned, they did an interview on MTV, which, you know, as always in interview, these guys are low key, deadpan, but that Scottish sense of humor, Dark, smart ass and hilarious. But at that time in 94, they were a little rough. I have a quote from William Reed that kind of summarizes why. We'd done a year of touring that we thought was going to make us superstars and globally well known. And it kind of, that year just. It was just horrible. We came down the ladder about 10 rungs and then we had to go and make a record and we had kind of a nervous breakdown, a collective nervous breakdown. And we had to make a record. And it should have taken us three months. It took us a year. When you tour for a year, you kind of expect something to come of it. And then when you tour for that year and the album you're touring with turns out to be the worst selling record, you start thinking, you know, what's going on? Would this record have sold more if we just stayed in our bedrooms and watched tv? So the album, while I mean our reaction in the track by track here, it's a great album. There are a lot of really great songs in it and kind of no duds. But as we've talked about in the context of a lot of Bands, in 1992, the Musical Landscape was changing and Jesus and Mary Chain just kind of wasn't it right now.

[Lori]

Right.

[Scott Free]

Doesn't make the album any less great. But the public did not respond to the tour and did not buy the album in the numbers they were expecting, especially because they had been on such an upward trajectory for the previous three albums.

[Lori]

Right, right. And I think tastes were changing around this time.

[Scott Free]

Exactly.

[Lori]

It wasn't quite there yet, but the start of the female led act that would become Lilith Fair, the Riot Girls, I think that that was kind of the shift that I was seeing. I don't know if that was the same by where you were.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, less so for me. But, you know, other musical directions were happening. And again, they were kind of competing against the end of the first huge wave of grunge. And the Jesus and Mary Chain was many things, but they were not a grunge band. This was just not the style of the time. But whatever. Still a great album.

[Lori]

But after Stoned and Dethroned, yes, they.

[Scott Free]

Ended up breaking up, as they do, because the brothers read they make great music, but they do not always get along. And that first breakup was kind of epic. Right?

[Lori]

It really was. Yeah. So I have a quote from an article that appeared in The Independent in 2007, where Jim Reed says of his brother William, after each tour, we wanted to kill each other. And after the final tour, we tried. They had a tour going on in 1998. The final night of the tour, they were in Providence, Rhode island, according to legend. I don't know if this is true. The band got into the fight with the cast of Riverdance. Do you remember Riverdance?

[Scott Free]

Of course. Michael Flatley, he was the Lord of the Dance.

[Lori]

Yes. And you do not fight with the Lord of the Dance. So I don't know if that's actually true or not. And also, I guess the concert promoter ran off with all their money.

[Scott Free]

Did they not get in a fight with each other on stage with. I want to say, Jim Reed hammered on stage?

[Lori]

Well, Jim Reed was always hammered on stage. But, yeah, I think you're correct. I mean, there. There were a couple times that. That. That happened where they got into fights. And, you know, I gotta say, it's gotta really be hard working with family, you know, I mean, I adore my brother. We're very close. I'm sure he and I could create together if we wanted to.

[Scott Free]

And watch what you're saying because he's listening to this episode.

[Lori]

He probably is. Yes. Hi, Tony.

[Scott Free]

Hey, Tony.

[Lori]

But we know each other well enough to know that I don't think we could be on a tour like a tour bus or for a year. I would say two weeks is probably generous.

Love you, little bro.

[Scott Free]

So in 98, they break up after a fight on stage. That was just the last straw. And the breakup, it took. Right. Like they were broken up for seven, eight years.

[Lori]

Yes, that's correct.

[Scott Free]

Yeah.

[Lori]

They reunited for Coachella 2007.

[Scott Free]

Oh, nice. Yeah, just missed that. 2006 was my last year of Coachella. That's a damn shame.

[Lori]

See, now I've never been. So.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, it was worth going to back then. Now I think it's not for us much the same way that Lollapalooza is for the kids.

[Lori]

Yep. And I think Riot Fest is starting to shift that way too.

[Jim Reid (Jesus and Mary Chain vocals)]

Damn.

[Lori]

Yeah. So they did tour North America in 2012. And actually, speaking of Riot Fest, that is the first time I was ever able to see them live.

[Scott Free]

Oh, yeah?

[Lori]

Yeah. The surprising thing about it was it was like an early afternoon set. And of course, they're both wearing their sunglasses. They were probably hungover as all shit, but they don't strike me as the kind of people that usually play during the daytime. You know what I mean?

[Scott Free]

Yeah, no, they're. They're. They're night people, for sure. Which is why the sunglass look has always been so distinctive, is because they're wearing sunglasses on stage at night. They reunited, as you said, and in 2017, they released another album, Damage and Joy, and then took an apparent long break from recording. But last year, In March of 2024, Jesus and Mary Chain released their first album in seven years, Glasgow Eyes. And that album was a departure for them. It was a lot more electronic and synth driven, and it's just really cool as hell. The first single from that album, J A M C O D, it is a great single. It's Dark, which is, again, no surprise for the Jesus and Mary chain. But, yeah, it's a lot more electronic driven. If you did not catch that one when it came out, you should definitely check it out. It wasn't necessarily everybody's cup of tea. If they were looking for this band to make the same albums that they were making way back in the 80s or 90s, but it is really good in its own right.

[Lori]

You know, I don't know if I've heard that album. I'm gonna have to check that one out.

[Scott Free]

I dig it. And then toured in support of that album. And you and I actually saw them.

[Lori]

That's right, yeah. At the Salt Shed.

[Scott Free]

Yep. We both saw them opening for the Psychedelic Furs. It was a stripped down stage production, but they were great. And yeah, to this day, the Jesus and Mary chain, a reliably strong performance, plenty of attitude and just cool as hell.

[Lori]

Yeah. If you ever get the opportunity to see them live listeners, they do. They put on a fantastic show even when they're not fighting.

[Scott Free]

Well, then that pretty much is it for Honey's Dead, huh?

[Lori]

Yeah, I guess so. Good album.

[Scott Free]

All right, so what happens next for us here on Accelerated Culture?

[Lori]

Okay, well, I guess it's my turn to pick an album. We're still in 1992.

[Scott Free]

Yeah.

[Lori]

All right, so I'm going to go with the album Spooky by the shoegaze band Lush.

[Scott Free]

Oh, cool.

[Lori]

Yeah, that's a good one.

[Scott Free]

You know, it dovetails out of the Jesus and Mary chains, you know, sort of psychedelic post shoegaze thing to get back into true shoegaze. It's a great album. I'm excited about it.

[Jim Reid (Jesus and Mary Chain vocals)]

Good.

[Lori]

I'm excited that you're excited. So that'll be a good episode. That's episode 78 and it will be out on Sunday, December 21st.

[Scott Free]

Very good. That is something to look forward to.

[Lori]

Indeed it is. So it's a goodbye from me.

[Scott Free]

And from me. See you back here in a couple weeks.

Does your child dread going to school every day? It's time to try Oregon Charter Academy.

[Lori]

Our online school offers interactive learning and assistance. Safe environment with a dynamic and responsive curriculum. Providing your student with support to thrive will bring you relief knowing you found.

[Scott Free]

Just what your child needs. Don't wait.

[Lori]

Enroll today@oregon charter.org and see the difference it makes for your child. Oregon Charter Academy what learning should be.

[Scott Free]

A new phone for Billy. A necklace for Sam. All the while on the lookout for scams. A swipe here and tap there. Better make it go far. Turns out mom didn't know she needs a new car this year.

[Ad Voice 1]

Stay on top of your credit with the Myfico app. Get your FICO score straight from the people that created it. Plus free credit monitoring and a free credit report every month. No credit card required. So make holiday spending one less stress under the mistletoe. Visit myfico.com free or download the MyFico app today.

[Ad Voice 2]

Tired of juggling sales tools or spending hours on prospecting just to book a few meetings? Meet Apollo, the go to market platform for finding leads, connecting with buyers and closing deals all in one place. Apollo gives you access to over 210 million contacts and AI that handles all your busywork. Finding leads drafting emails and even prioritizing your day. So stop paying for five different sales tools when one does it all. Visit Apollo I.O. and sign up free today.