The Reid brothers have been gone so long, we really had forgotten them, but they reopened their rock'n'roll account last Saturday night with a gig at the Olympia Theatre, employing some wounded old cliches into the bargain. The Jesus And Mary Chain have a new album, Munki, which features 17 tracks of cracked-up, riff-heavy songs, and Saturday's show, part of the Heineken Green Energy Weekend, was a loud but lame attempt to pummel their way back into our consciousness.
Right from the first chugging, shuddering guitar chord, The Jesus And Mary Chain rattled their way through new songs like Cracking Up, Commercial, and I Hate Rock'n'Roll, studiously trying to re-enact the wasted cool which made them one of the most interesting bands of the Eighties. The unacceptably high volume level made the sound seem gut-churningly physical, and each high-decibel thud felt like being hit repeatedly by a brick - a dull, onedimensional brick at that. Having enjoyed many a loud and obnoxious gig in recent times, I think I know when the sound has passed the threshold of endurance, and Saturday night's level went well beyond bearable.
It would have been nice if The Reid brothers were actually creating something cool enough to warrant delivery at such ear-bleedingly high volume, but since all they were doing was rehashing the same old rock'n'roll cliches and churning out the same twisted, turgid power chords, it was just like having Noel and Liam Gallagher standing on each side of you and giving you a bang on the ear.
