The Jesus & Mary Chain* – Blues From A Gun

For a few years there I was avidly collecting singles by Jesus + Mary Chain. I snapped them up in CD5 and at the time of the “Automatic” album, WEA was pushing the cute CD3 format. JAMC rarely went for extended mixes at the time, but the B-sides overflowed like floodwaters. The catch? You had to buy all of the formats to get them all. Business as usual for the UK labels until the great Chart Rigging wars of the early 90s. Even so, the 7/12/10/CD3 of this title would be legal in the BPI’s new rules. Fans would still have to buy three of these formats to get all of the B-sides on offer!

In 1989, I was not buying any vinyl, so I stuck with the format that I could immediately play and not fret over. That’s sort of my loss, since the B-sides on offer on this CD3 were all high value B-sides! There was nothing dull or worthless here, so I can only imaging that “Break Me Down” which supplanted “My Girl” on the 10″ configuration or “Subway” which did the same on the 12″ were both great Reid Brothers’ tunes.

The evidence here points to “yes.” The A-side was a sturdy single choice from the powerful “Automatic” album that showed the band curtailing their feedback-fests of yore to tighten their grasp on a strong pop rock song that might actually grace the airwaves.

“Shimmer” was the 7″ B-side and stands as a very Stonesy number with languid, melodious guitars with only a hint of fuzz. It’s a dreamy number and full of twang and none of the noise they made their initial reputation on. The simple, metronomic drumming gives the guitars the full spotlight and the end result is a fine piece of late night blues.

On the other hand, “Penetration” was all stabbing, repetitive synths and drum machines for a less than subtle approach that while machine-like, began to approach the vibe of their earlier material, like “Never Understand.” When guitars finally make their presence known here, they served to only add contrasting shading for the relentless machines.

Buyers of the CD3 got the exclusive cover of The Temptations “My Girl.” It’s a very different cover being guitar and voice only. There’s a lot of space in the mix with only a hint of reverb for flavoring. The vocals were double tracked for the chorus with whispers of “my girl” joining off beat to approximate the effect of the original version. It’s a fun take from a BBC radio session on a bit of classic pop that no one would immediately associate with the JAMC.