Our Little Underground: The Jesus and Mary Chain Song by Song

Coast to Coast

4/5

The songwriting is by the numbers rock and roll. I still like it and that “solo” is fantastic.

 

"Coast to Coast"

Like an extension of some of their earlier surfing B-sides but with everything cleaned up and cranked up. And instead of wanting to destroy all in their wake they are in celebratory mood. Fun fun fun Reid Bros style. Seem to remember having the 12" of this, think more for the extra tracks.

4/5

 

5/5 for me. Love this song. as I listen to it now, it strikes as very similar to Billy Idol
Production. At the time I wouldn’t have thought that was accurate or cool. But this as that Billy Idol cool to it.

 

Coast To Coast

Over the last few weeks I've been playing Automatic a lot. ZZ Top were mentioned a few days ago and a couple of weeks before I'd heard this for the first time in ages and it hit me how much if you take the singing and noisier guitars away on this, it sounds like Afterburner era ZZ Top with it's synth bass, rock guitars and driving propulsive drum machine, especially at 3:10 onwards. This is absolutely nothing like hip hop! I can even imagine the Top singing this.

The use of drum machines on Automatic often sounds basic, thin and dated for 1987, especially when you consider Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, New Order Sisters of Mercy as well as what was happening in hip hop then.

I like this though, but it helps that I love ZZ Top!

3.5/5

 

Yeah, I can hear Billy Idol too, but that was also a few years before Automatic.

 

Totally! It’s a slick album. Very much of the time.

 

Love afterburner. Stages is such a great tune.

 

Me too and Stages is my favourite on it along with Sleeping Bag. I love Automatic too. None of my comments are in any way derogatory.

 

Billy Idol definitely. Also Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction. Too bad the Reid brothers never made a video where they invaded a Catholic girl school and turned the students into "party rocker chicks" with lasers they shoot out of their guitars.

 

I bought this!

 

Me too. I thought I'd be the only one! Slam Thunderhide is the greatest name for a drummer ever.

 

I also bought the follow up - Back Seat Education. I was 13!

 

I've got the whole album on CD. Very Mary Chain in that a lot of the songs sound alike. Their ludicrous cover of "Born to be Wild" is entertaining. The singer goes on nonsensical rants in between songs.

I think the story is that the singer worked for some music magazine and decided to just become a rock star. The band was definitely meant as a tongue firmly in cheek exaggeration of mainstream hard rock at the time.

 

Well I love TV and I love T- Rex
I can see through your skirt
I've got X-Ray specs
I came from the sky like a 747
I'm the bad boy baby I fell out of heaven
Sex fuhrer baby I'm a love dictator
Blitzkrieg romance I'm a cool dominator

P-R-I-M-E Prime Mover
Baby You're M-I-N-E I'm The Groover"

This is Rock & Roll!

I only had the two 45s. Long gone. I don't think I've heard these in about 35 years!

 

Coast To Coast

I bet they were grinning their heads off when they were putting this one together. It's brilliantly over the top, just a ridiculous roof down rave up. I can't quite go top marks but it's a definite mission accomplished moment.

4/5

 

Automatic is a really fun album. I can imagine it was intentional after Darklands.

 

Coast to Coast

Sounds very generic, but still pretty good. Not sure how long I can take the 'clean' sound before it starts to grate, though.

4/5

 

"Coast to Coast"

Fabulous! Still the surf rock is there and it's rock n roll baby!

 

Is the Zodiac Mindwarp cover of Born To Be Wild any more ludicrous than The Cult from the great Electric album?

 

You didn’t….. love that song. Similar to Manitoba’s Wild Kingdom. All have that similar chord progression. And production.

 

Here too. Still consider that a crazy good but completely inappropriate song.

 

Bass player joined The Cult. Haggis was his name I think. lol.

 

so damn fun. Sounds like Billy Duffy.

 

It was then!

Shall we make this a Zodiac Mindwarp song by song thread? We've done Psychocandy and Darklands!

 

Zodiac Mindwarp , Billy Idol , ZZ Top , good comparisons confirming this is utter crap.
Very remote from the Cramps , Stooges , VU , Suicide or Shangri La's we did mention previously .
Generic, bland , i give it a generous 2 for the surfish vibes .