The Best Record of 1989 Day 53: #14 Jesus and Mary Chain, Automatic vs. #115 Kitchens of Distinction, Love is Hell
Good morning!
Today we’re taking a quick look at records from Jesus and Mary Chain and Kitchens of Distinction
Note: As many of you know, I recently wrote about a Best Record of 1989 challenge and noted that I’d occasionally write some of these up.
I’ve started doing some quick hits of each matchup and posting them directly to the page. Some will be longer, some won’t, and some might just be a handful of sentences. There’ll probably definitely be some typos.
Check ’em out and let me know your thoughts! Chin wags and hot takes are welcome! Sharing and restacks are always appreciated.
KA—
The first of what would be many trips to Portland’s Pine Street Theater was marked by a beer bottle winged from the stage, whizzing inches from my head. It turned out fine; this became an anecdote I’ve shared many times. A ha-ha moment that was very close to having a very different ending.
The band playing? The Jesus and Mary Chain.
I don’t think people thought this record was a joke, but I do remember many people lamenting that it wasn’t another Psychocandy. The band also got some flak for using drum machines and synths (there’s no bass guitar on the record). You can argue for each of those points, but I think they were saying that the record might be too poppy for their taste.
Ultimately, though, Automatic gets a largely undeserved bad rap.
The album followed 1988’s Barbed Wire Kisses and would be followed by the ’92’s Honey’s Dead. In other words, you’ve got my favorite on one side and a solid outing on the other. But Automatic’s importance in the Jesus and the Mary Chain discography shouldn’t be questioned. Like Darklands, it has been a sleeper that has risen in reputation as time passes.
The album was produced by the Reid brothers and recorded at Sam Therapy studios in West London. It would give us two hit singles: “Blues From a Gun” and “Head On,” the latter being the poppiest thing they ever made this side of “Sometimes, Always.” The album reached #11 on the UK album charts but only managed #105 on the US charts.
At the time of its release, the reception was lukewarm, but in some circles it was shit hot. “Head On” got a lot of airplay on the likes of MTV’s 120 Minutes, and no less than Pixies wound up covering it. It also caught the eye of my then-girlfriend, which meant that I had a willing partner in crime to make the cross-town trek to Pine Street.
Possible hot take: If Barbed Wire Kisses was an homage to surf rock, Automatic was a nod to dance music writ large. “Blues From A Gun” has a swagger that’ll get your hips moving, “Head On” has one of the most glorious choruses of the year, and the druggy “Here Comes Alice” is all dark sugary goodness. None of these are dancefloor fillers in the traditional sense, but all make it hard to stay still.
The Jesus and Mary Chain never made the same record twice. Each has a unique style (or vibe) and sound, leading to some red lines being drawn among the fanbase. Some people liked the fuzzed-out/tripped out nature of Psychocandy. Others, the more accessible sheen of Darklands. Some loved the heavy gauged riffs of Barbed Wire Kisses. Automatic had a little something for all three camps.
What I think everyone could agree on was just how far upfront the drums and sequencers were compared with their other releases. The programmed bass gave the album a relentless pace and feel, as if it was daring all of us to keep up.
Automatic is a rock & roll record that tapped into what was going on around it—and the band—at the time. While I’m not entirely sure it understood the assignment, I’m positive it’s held up over the ensuing years.
Perhaps the biggest reason time has rehabbed its reputation is this: at its core, this is a (maybe the only?) JAMC record you can dance to.
Which is exactly what I was doing when that bottle flew by.
The nicest thing I can say about Kitchen’s of Distinction’s Love is Hell is that “Prize” is a great song. Really. I listened to it, like, 3 times in a row. That it took ‘til track 4 to get to it is a story for another day. I’m usually all in on dream pop, but this just didn’t anything for me. Maybe it’s a record that asks you to listen a couple of times before you get it? I dunno.
My vote: JAMC is one of my all-time favorite bands, which means Kitchens of Distinction never really had a chance. A record full of tracks like “Prize” might’ve given me a moment’s pause, but my bracket pick and vote were never really in doubt.
Any thoughts on either of these records? Agree/disagree with my takes? Which one of these would you vote for? Sound off in the comments!
Check out the full bracket here.
Info on the tourney, voting, and more is here.
As always, thanks for being here.
KA—
Kevin Sent 