Psychedelic explosions and delicious noise: The Jesus and Mary Chain are old school cool

In the era of plastic bubblegum music and airbrushed singers, it’s easy to believe “music is dead”. These grisly Scottish punks proved Sydney it’s not.

In the era of plastic bubblegum music and airbrushed singers dominating popular culture, it’s easy to become a cynic who believes “music is dead”.

And it really is, if you’re basing that opinion on the top 10 most streamed songs this month on Spotify. Maybe I’m wrong, but cookie cutter industry plants singing about their antidepressant medication and petty relationship drama just isn’t cool. The production technique is largely the same across the major labels, and almost everything is run through the musical equivalent of an Instagram filter to make sure it sounds clean and appropriate for corporate beer gardens.

But the Jesus and Mary Chain are not like that one bit.

When the Scottish noise-rockers descended on the Enmore Theatre on Thursday to celebrate their 40th anniversary, the audience were immediately struck down with an explosion of erratic but superbly-crafted rock music.

Casual revellers will know their song “Just Like Honey”, which was the song that soundtracked the poignant final scene in Bill Murray’s Lost in Translation.

That song is credited as one of the vital cornerstones of the shoegaze explosion throughout the UK in the early 90s. But if you dig a little deeper through the band’s eight studio albums, you realise just how important this music would have been to alternative musicians three decades ago.

It’s brash, in-your-face and most importantly makes a statement that is refreshing to see amid the tidal wave of “placeholder art” hitting the charts.

It’s always a bit unnerving seeing a bunch of baby boomers jump on stage to recreate their work from years past. Are they going to suck? Is it going to be awkward?

The Jesus and Mary Chain are old school cool.

Dimly lit stages and ear-splitting psychedelia is good for the soul.

Far from it.

There’s a bit of everything on offer. Some songs are clearly written with the same pop sensibility that drove Oasis to the top of the charts, but there’s always a distinct underlying splatter of punk and industrial noise that makes the whole thing hard to turn away from.

The band, formed in the early 1980s, were immediate hits in the UK underground. They brashly claimed they were better than anything else hitting the stage at the time, and Creation Records founder Alan McGee — also responsible for Oasis’ first break — clearly saw promise.

A big part of what makes the Jesus and Mary Chain cool is the fact they don’t give a flying f**k about their image. The stage remains dimly lit for the entire show. Soft red, pink, blue and green lights beam from the back of the stage to create a psychedelic mood that perfectly gels with the wall of guitars rattling the roof.

Back in the day.

Less chords, more noise.

The Jesus and Mary Chain released their new album ‘Glasgow Eyes’ in March.

It’s not about the “stars” and their egotistical stage presence, it’s about the audience gathering to experience something. The band know this and lean into the schtick perfectly. Lead singer Jim Reid can hit some killer high notes, but he doesn’t show off for the majority of the show. His Scottish drawl sits tastefully under the mix and creates a brilliantly washed-out atmosphere, especially on the slower songs that show off their deep love for The Velvet Underground.

There’s no “wooooooh are you feeling good Sydney?” followed by lengthy diatribes about what special moment in their life led them to writing the next song. Just a simple acknowledgement of the crowd and a “alright, let’s get on with it” from Reid as the lights dimmed and amplifiers began to roar.

The gig came to a ear-splitting crescendo in the final encore song “Reverence”, where Reid sings “I want to die just like Jesus Christ, I want to die like JFK” repeatedly while his brother William thrashes out the riff to the Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog”.

It’s dirty, rebellious and a million times better than vacuous stadium pop.

The Jesus and Mary Chain tour continues on Saturday at the Tivoli in Brisbane and Sunday at the Forum in Melbourne before heading to Adelaide (6th August) and Perth (8th).

Originally published as Psychedelic explosions and delicious noise: The Jesus and Mary Chain are old school cool