The Jesus and Mary Chain

[Bosco]

New album "Damage and Joy" out today, and it sounds fantastic. So excited to see them in May!

It should be noted, a lot of the tracks are re-recorded cuts from side projects that they have participated in.

Nevertheless. This album is rocking!


I did come across something interesting while listening to the album. And I'm not sure if this was noted in the past, but listen to this:

Dissolve much?

Turns out it's one of the re-recorded tracks from their project band 'Freeheat'

original cut:

so sampled? or coincedence?

[Wolkenkrabber]

Good spot! If it's a coincidence then it's a big one. Tom has said in interviews he's been a fan of JAMC since he was at school, so it's certainly credible that he heard this at some point.

To borrow a term used on WhoSampled, I would suggest Dissolve contains an "interpolation" of the riff. But I guess only Tom knows for sure.

The album leaked a week ago but I haven't got around to listening to it. Big mistake! I also stumbled on their 21 Singles comp in my CD collection yesterday, and somewhere I have their Original Album Series collection containing the first five albums. Time for a Mary Chain binge.

[Bosco]

I'm just now listening to it side by side with dissolve, and yes, interpolation is more accurate.

[Born In Planet Dust]

LOVE JAMC!  Was just listening to "Honey's Dead" the other day. 

[Wolkenkrabber]

Listening to French Disko earlier (following Enjoyed's Stereolab post), I was later singing "radio onnnn", and thinking, hmm...why? And then I started thinking about Dissolve and the JAMC.
And then it all clicked into place:
"Radio on" is a refrain from Jonathan Richman's Roadrunner. I'm pretty sure it influenced Stereolab's French Disko and it seems I'm not alone. (ok, someone disagrees but...they're wrong!)

Roadrunner

"Radio on" riff becomes "La Resistance" on French Disko:

I suspect JAMC were also influenced by Richman's Roadrunner rather than by Stereolab [EDIT: The second last paragraph of this review (before the Q&A)of JAMC mentions Jonathan Richman in relation to JAMC's The Two Of Us]. I wouldn't be surprised if there are more examples of Roadrunner infleuncing other songs too. I guess by the time the riff popped up in Dissolve, the "borrowing" of it wasn't so new. Although if it was a direct sample of Freeheat/Mary Chain that could have still been an issue. But it probably isn't.

Hope this makes some kind of sense.

[Bosco]

ahh good ear my friend. And the riff is used well in all the songs!

It's funny cause I hear 'Roadrunner' quite frequently in my Pandora search (I frequently start my play selection with Velvet Underground or JAMC).

It seems like it's more of a common place then originally thought, so probably not fair to connect the two (Chems and JAMC) any more. Though I'm still hopping Chems pulled influence from JAMC, because I love both bands!

[sandelic]

Not sure why I'm still surprised at folks here and their good music taste.
You guys are awesome!