The Jesus and Mary Chain ‘Glasgow Eyes’ Review: The Reid brothers celebrate their 40th anniversary on engaging new album.
The Jesus and Mary Chain, featuring the brotherly duo nucleus of Jim and William Reid, are now shoegaze and post-punk elder statesmen. They survived horrific infighting in the late 90’s, which hastened a breakup, only to reunite in 2007.
But it wasn’t until 2017’s Damage and Joy that the band released a new album. It was a reliable effort, featuring all the hallmarks of past glories, without denting their legacy.
The band is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2024, and they’re marking the occasion with a new album, Glasgow Eyes (out March 22 on Fuzz Club), which offsets nostalgia by tinkering with their formula, as it contains more electronics than past releases, working seamlessly within William Reid’s ragged guitar arrangements.
Opener Venal Joy starts with a swirling soundscape before Jim Reid’s reliable growl brings the debauchery: “I was kicking with Cain cause Cain wasn’t able, I’m addicted to love so we can fuck on the table” Eventually synths and sandpaper guitars collide with a strident, insistent approach (it also features background vocals by Rezillos’ singer Fay Fife, who lends her talents throughout the album).
American Born’s bleep bloop keyboards and distorted vocals highlight a track that continues the band’s fascination with American culture, including their obsession with The Beach Boys, while Girl 71 is a steady rocker with a guitar riff that oddly recalls Judas Priest’s Living After Midnight if given a bubblegum pop makeover.
The Beach Boys are also name-checked in The Beatles and The Eagles, a slight, yet entertaining track with a riff that recalls I Love Rock and Roll. Reid rattles off a whole host of influences with emphasis on the Rolling Stones: “I’ve been rolling with the Stones, Mick and Keith and Brian Jones/Bill and Charlie have gone home.” The fact that The Eagles are never mentioned speaks to the group’s oddball sense of humor.
The vintage pop culture references continue with the dreamy, percolating Mediterranean X Film, a moody subdued track, where Reid intones: “Churchill and De Gaulle/Berlin and the Wall/The Bunny boys and The Fall/I think I loved them all”.
That sense of history extends to the self-referential: the psychedelic, driving Jamcod is a recount of their drunken on-stage breakup, powered by a bulldozing riff. If that represents war, then the jangle-poppy Second of June speaks of peace and literal brotherly love, with Reid cooing “what she said, all my friends are dead/Brother can you hear me calling you?”
Some songs don’t hit quite as hard: Discotheques is an odd track featuring tweaked synths, staccato guitars and weird vocal effects that proves more eccentric than memorable, and not as compelling as the equally atypical Silver Strings, a gorgeous number which comes off like a James Bond theme with its crystalline sonics and opulent lyrics, or Chemical Animal, a skulking, sullen track that sees the band at their brooding best.
The band’s love of The Velvet Underground is on full display as well, from the Venus in Furs’ vibe of Pure Poor, packed with a slow lumbering beat and scooped distortion, to Hey Lou Reed, the closing track which starts off with buried vocals and buzzsaw guitar before segueing into cleaner sonics, luring the listener into a dreamlike state.
Taken as a whole, Glasgow Eyes is a testament to The Jesus and Mary Chain’s enduring power for crafting sugary pop gems with an acidic aftertaste. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but its combination of their classic sound with new elements makes for a worthy addition to their discography. making it catnip for hardcore fans and a proper introduction for the uninitiated.