Review Summary: "I don't expect/I just accept;I'm happy in my box, you just got to see the box upstairs"
At the time of
Psychocandy’s release, “shoegaze” was an obscure, or even non-existent, genre to any serious music fan at that time. However, seven years after
Psychocandy’s release, My Bloody Valentine released the legendary mind***k that is
Loveless. Despite its simplicity, every indie rock artist who took notice of
Loveless, were perplexed by its wall-of-sound landscape has since been unanimously embraced and endlessly imitated for many years to come.
So where does The Jesus and Mary Chain’s debut album fit into the history of the scene that celebrates itself? Even though
Psychocandy is the only time the band flirts with shoegaze, the album has since been heralded as the album that first shaped shoegaze.
Going back to 1985, the extensive use of guitar feedback (let’s pretend
Metal Machine Music just never existed for a moment) hadn’t been incorporated into music the way it was on
Psychocandy. Songs like “You Trip Me Up” or “In a Hole” heavily incorporate feedback into otherwise accessible pop tunes. Even songs like “Taste the Floor” where they crank the volume up to 11, they integrate the feedback and harsh distortion in a way that wouldn’t distract or contradict the vocal melody. The vocals seem transplanted from a psychedelic rock song and set to the background of a noisy pop song. In fact, the album sounds like the blueprint for My Bloody Valentine’s debut
Isn’t Anything. As the album progresses, however, the formulaic songwriting becomes rather clear.
Half of the songs are pretty psychedelic pop tracks and the other half are jarring, noisy post-punk numbers. Sonically, the lack of diversity in the
music should not be seen as a flaw and instead as an inherent aspect of the sound the band was trying to pioneer... But due to the
songwriting, the songs will end up sounding identical if the listener isn’t paying attention.
That isn’t to say that the songwriting hinders any sort of diversity on the album. The songs, especially the more pop oriented ones, are very catchy and some of the more abrasive songs on the album act as a breath of fresh air in their positioning on the album. “Something’s Wrong” and “My Little Underground” are the most shoegaze sounding songs on the album, both with the catchiest and most beautiful choruses on the album.“Sowing Seeds” is probably the most mundane song on the album as it sounds like “Just Like Honey” both instrumentally and melody-wise.
Psychocandy is truly shoegaze(ing?)’s prototype and deserves the reverence that it beholds. Despite its flaws,
Psychocandy is still very enjoyable and is very much a slowburner if the listener decides to give it a listen.
Recommendable Tracks:
Just Like Honey
Taste the Floor
Taste of Cindy
My Little Underground
Something’s Wrong
Album Rating: 4.1
