4. “Darklands” – The Jesus & Mary Chain: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

4. “Darklands” – The Jesus & Mary Chain

(From the album Darklands)

1987

Both the “April Skies” single and the Darklands album were somewhat surprising commercial successes; the single went to #8 in the UK and the album to #5. The band followed up “April Skies” with “Happy When It Rains”, which went to #25 on the UK singles chart. This was then followed up by the title track “Darklands” as a third single, which still managed to hit #33. Both of these singles proved that the more reserved, melancholic direction of the lead single “April Skies” was not a feint. “Happy When It Rains” did have a somewhat faster tempo than “April Skies”, but still was mid-tempo at best and married to a downbeat lyric. Then, the third single “Darklands” further reinforces the new, more reserved, and downcast direction of The Jesus & Mary Chain. Like the preceding singles from this album, “Darklands” does not have the layers of guitar, feedback, and distortion, that buried earlier Jesus & Mary Chain’s songs’ pop cores under a blistering sonic assault. “Darklands” (like the preceding singles from the album) is not given a polished, tight, 80’s-styled production, but most of the blistering sonics have been removed and the hook of the song is allowed to come through. This creates a sound on “Darklands” that is original but also has clear references to the band’s heroes and influences: The Velvet Underground, The Beach Boys, The Ramones, and The Cure, all can be heard here. This combination allowed the Darklands album to become a hit in the UK and a key album in the rise of alternative music in the American underground. As 1988 came the band saw more line-up changes around the Reid brothers (who really would be the only real members of the band from this point forward, if they weren’t already) who now had to try and decide how to follow up a real commercial success (or if they even wanted to). In order to buy themselves some time The Jesus & Mary Chain released the non-album single “Sidewalking” in March of 1988 and then followed that up with Barbed Wire Kisses, a collection of B-sides, rarities, covers, and non-album singles, including “Sidewalking”. 

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3. “April Skies” – The Jesus & Mary Chain: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

3. “April Skies” – The Jesus & Mary Chain

(From the album Darklands)

1987

In late 1986 the band parted ways with their management and came very close to breaking up completely. Eventually, though, The Jesus & Mary Chain decided to continue, moving drummer John Moore (who had earlier replaced Bobby Gillespie as their drummer) to rhythm guitar and bringing in former Dead Can Dance percussionist James Pinker to play drums. This would be the live lineup of the band at this time but it would be just the two Reid brothers who would enter the studio to work on The Jesus & Mary Chain’s second album Darklands. Darklands would continue the more stripped-back, melancholy pop-laced direction of the Some Candy Talking EP. It also would become the band’s highest charting album, cracking the UK Top 5 at #5. “April Skies” would be the lead single and one of the band’s best-known songs. “April Skies” pulls back from the sonic onslaught of their earlier songs and places the emphasis more firmly on what was the underlying pop core. Echoes of 60’s girl groups, surf rock, and the psychedelic-influenced post-punk of Echo & The Bunnymen and The Teardrop Explodes can be felt on “April Skies”, which also maintains just enough sonic edge to link it back to the earlier work of The Jesus & Mary Chain. The impact of “April Skies”, and the Darklands album more broadly, on later music is so big that it can be hard to hear its full impact now. That said, much of the sound of the 1990’s and beyond, in various alternative rock genres, can be traced back to this point. 

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2. “Some Candy Talking” – The Jesus & Mary Chain: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

2. “Some Candy Talking” – The Jesus & Mary Chain

(From the EP Some Candy Talking)

1986

Over the course of their early career, The Jesus & Mary Chain had developed a reputation for having violence take place at their shows. Some of that violence came from the fact that the band had a tendency to play with their backs to the audience. They also were notorious for playing very short sets; sometimes only twenty minutes in length. This reputation only increased when the band trashed the set and equipment on a Belgian TV performance, however, what viewers and fans didn’t know was that this was done at the request of the show’s producer. This culture of violence however began to overtake the music at the shows, with some attendees only coming to take part in the violence rather than having any real interest in the music and this led to several shows having near riot-like conditions. Both to combat this trend and as a wide of showing the band’s diversity as musicians The Jesus & Mary Chain planned to do some unannounced acoustic sets opening for Sonic Youth. However, when news of this plan leaked the idea was scrapped. The desire to pull back from the sonic assault of their first album Psychocandy and to show other sides of the band (while also maybe encouraging a less violent fan reaction) however didn’t fade and so The Jesus & Mary Chain both played a stripped-back session of The John Peel Show and recorded and released the EP Some Candy Talking. The title track was then released as a single and, while not acoustic, it did showcase a more restrained version of the Jesus & Mary Chain sound. The EP also contained the song “Psychocandy”, which had not been included on their debut album of that name. “Psychocandy” had a similar more relaxed, but still the sound of The Jesus & Mary Chain vibe, to “Some Candy Talking”. The EP was rounded out with an acoustic version of “Taste Of Cindy”, which had appeared in an electric version on their debut, and a noisy sonic assault of a song called “Hit”. “Some Candy Talking” was a success for the band, going to #13 in the UK before a controversy about whether the song was an ode to drugs got it pulled from the British airwaves. The band denied that it was about drugs at the time but later admitted that it actually was. However, the controversy around the song did not hurt it much (as is usually the case with these things – all publicity is good publicity), and “Some Candy Talking” remains one of the band’s signature songs and a fan favorite. The Some Candy Talking EP would also be the last time Bobby Gillespie would drum for the group as he left to focus on his own band Primal Scream full-time.

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1. “Just Like Honey” – The Jesus & Mary Chain: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

1. “Just Like Honey” – The Jesus & Mary Chain

(From the album Psychocandy)

1985

Jim and William Reed, two brothers from Scotland, became interested in forming a band as far back as the British punk explosion of 1977. By the time of the early 1980’s the Reid brothers had formed their first band and found that they were pleased to be out of step with the trends of the time as their music was guitar-centered right as electronic pop music was on the rise. Being out of step with the style of the day may have pleased the Reid’s, whose music drew on diverse influences like The Velvet Underground, The Shangri-La’s, The Ramones, The Beach Boys, Siouxsie & The Banshees, and Einstürzende Neubauten, but it made it difficult for the fledgling band to find gigs or earn attention from record labels. Early work by the band followed a punk/pop vein similar to The Ramones but the duo decided to add the layers of distorted guitar over top to make themselves more unique and create their own sound. In the process helping to create the roots of the noise rock and shoegaze genres. After a series of name changes the Reid’s chose The Jesus & Mary Chain and firmed up the band’s line-up by hiring bassist Douglas Hart and drummer Murray Dalglish (while Jim Reid assumed lead vocal duties after losing a coin toss when neither brother wanted to do it). The Jesus & Mary Chain’s lack of success at getting gigs or label attention continued in Scotland and so in 1984 the band relocated to London. In London the band met musician Bobby Gillespie, who had recently formed his own group Primal Scream, and Gillespie was able to get a copy of their demo to Creation Records head Alan McGee, who ultimately signed the band to a one single deal and became their manager. That single for Creation turned out to be “Upside Down”. “Upside Down” became an indie rock success in the UK and earned the band both wider notice and a record contract with Blanco Y Negro Records. Around this same time drummer Murray Dalglish was fired over a financial dispute and Bobby Gillespie joined The Jesus & Mary Chain as their drummer. This foursome would be the group that would head into the studio to record their landmark debut album Psychocandy in 1985. The songs on Psychocandy were catchy pop songs buried under mountains of distortion and feedback and were quite different from most of what was popular or new at the time. The first two singles from Psychocandy – “Never Understand” and “You Trip Me Up” – expanded the band’s fan base with critics and the underground music scene, but the third single “Just Like Honey” was able to crossover into the mainstream a little and peaked in the UK at #45. Opening with the same drum riff as The Ronette’s classic “Be My Baby”, “Just Like Honey” then layers its melodic foundation under echoing vocals and heavy distortion. However, “Just Like Honey” pulls back on the sonic onslaught just enough to really allow the pretty side of the music to come through in a way that doesn’t happen as obviously across much of the rest of the album. “Just Like Honey” earned The Jesus & Mary Chain more attention, while also showing that the success of “Upside Down” was not a fluke, and in the process created an album with Psychocandy that would prove to be one of the most influential and important albums to come out of alternative music in the 1980’s. 

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7. “Might Makes Right” – Camper Van Beethoven: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

7. “Might Makes Right” – Camper Van Beethoven

(From the album New Roman Times)

2004

Camper Van Beethoven was inactive throughout the 1990’s and Lowery, in particular, found success with his new band Cracker. However, in 1990 core members Lowery, Krummenacher, and Segal reunited to work on the rarities compilation Camper Van Beethoven Is Dead. Long Live Camper Van Beethoven. As part of this project, there was some limited work together on new material. In 2002 this same trio along with guitarist Greg Lisher and multiinstrumentalist David Immergluck (along with two members of Cracker) played a few shows together as Camper Van Beethoven. Former drummer Chris Pedersen also rejoined for a few shows. These were the first Camper Van Beethoven shows since 1990 and they went well enough that the band quietly decided to enter the studio to see if they could still work together. The result of this studio time was a full album cover of Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk. Camper Van Beethoven’s Tusk would also be released in 2002 although it was originally presented as a recording from 1987 that had been rediscovered and not as new material in order to keep any expectations of a full reunion in check. However, the recording sessions had gone well, and in 2004 Camper Van Beethoven released New Roman Times, their first album of new material since 1989. New Roman Times is a concept album meant to highlight the growing red state/blue state in the USA. The loose story in New Roman Times concerns a near-future United States that has fallen apart and split up into several rival countries. Among these is a right-wing controlled, Christian, conservative Texas and a supposedly Utopian left-wing California. In the story, California is in the midst of a civil war and has been occupied by soldiers from Texas. New Roman Times follows a young Texas soldier who fights in California but slowly becomes disillusioned. Eventually, he switches sides and joins a left-wing rebel group that has connections to both Mexico and space aliens, The ending is left ambiguous, both for our main character and the story in general. One of the album’s centerpieces is “Might Makes Right”, a fairly direct slice of social commentary that marries its message with a southwestern-flavored ska beat that is reminiscent of some of Camper Van Beethoven’s early work. New Roman Times would be the last new Camper Van Beethoven music until 2013’s La Costa Perdida, a song cycle about the band’s beloved northern California. A year later saw the release of its southern California-themed sister album El Camino Real. Camper Van Beethoven has continued to occasionally tour in the years since.

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6. “Pictures Of Matchstick Men” – Camper Van Beethoven: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

6. “Pictures Of Matchstick Men” – Camper Van Beethoven

(From the album Key Lime Pie)

1989

Camper Van Beethoven’s “Take The Skinheads Bowling” has earned a permanent place in the culture over the years but the band’s only real taste of any kind of a moderate hit was their version of “Pictures Of Matchstick Men”. “Pictures Of Matchstick Men” would be included on Camper Van Beethoven’s 1989 album Key Lime Pie and is a cover of British rockers Status Quo’s psychedelic 1968 hit. Key Lime Pie was once again produced by Dennis Herring, who had also produced Camper Van Beethoven’s previous album Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart, and Key Lime Pie has a similar polish to it. However, there are some differences between Key Lime Pie and earlier Camper Van Beethoven releases. For one thing, there is a definite darkness that permeates the album and sets it apart from the brightness and frivolity of most of the band’s earlier work (although the album isn’t without humor). This may be due in part to more emphasis on Greg Lisher’s guitar and less on the world music influences that the band had often previously explored, usually in a very lighthearted way. A second difference is that Key Lime Pie deals more directly with political and social issues than the band’s earlier work does. A third key difference is the absence of violinist/multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Segal, who had left the band prior to the recording of the album. Ironically, Camper Van Beethoven’s minor hit “Pictures of Matchstick Men” has a prominent violin part that is central to the song and that would have been a showcase for Segal (indeed, the band had recorded a demo version of the song for their self-titled album three years earlier with Segal playing on it). In fact, there is a fair amount of violin used across Key Lime Pie, and while most of it was played by session musician Don Lax, the violin heard on “Pictures Of Matchstick Men” is played by new full-time member Morgan Fichter. Camper Van Beethoven hit the road to support Key Lime Pie and added friend and Monks of Doom member David Immergluck to the band to help complete the band’s sound since they had lost both Chris Molla and Jonathan Segal in recent years. However, Camper Van Beethoven broke up a year later in 1990 with David Lowery moving on to form Cracker, while the rest of the band, minus Morgan Fichter, focused on their Monks Of Doom project.

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5. “Eye Of Fatima, Pt. 1” – Camper Van Beethoven: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

5. “Eye Of Fatima, Pt. 1” – Camper Van Beethoven

(From the album Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart)

1988

Camper Van Beethoven had released three albums in under two years and in the process had become mainstays of college radio. However, following the tour in support of Camper Van Beethoven multi-instrumentalist Chris Molla decided to leave the group, reducing Camper Van Beethoven down to a quintet of David Lowery, Jonathan Segal, Victor Krummenacher, Greg Lisher, and Chris Pedersen. Around this same time all of the band members other than Lowery decided to form a side project known as Monks of Doom to explore music that didn’t fit within the scope of Camper Van Beethoven. Initially, Chris Molla continued on with Monks of Doom even after exiting Camper Van Beethoven but he soon left that project as well. This lineup of the band released the Vampire Can Mating Oven EP, which streamlined their sound and put a greater emphasis on Greg Lisher’s lead guitar parts, giving the band a more traditional sound. Somewhat surprisingly, given Camper Van Beethoven’s quixotic and experimental nature, this EP kicked off a major label bidding war over the band, who ultimately signed with Virgin Records. While definitely still the work of an interesting and creative band that was miles away from the mainstream the band’s first album for Virgin, Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart, followed the more streamlined and guitar-oriented sound of the Vampire Can Mating Oven EP. Part of this change may have been due to the fact that Camper Van Beethoven worked with an outside producer, Dennis Herring, for the first time on an album. Herring does not change the band’s core sound too much, which is still eclectic and draws on a myriad of influences, but he does give the album a more glossy mainstream polish, while also keeping a focus on Lisher’s guitar. This streamlined approach did not result in any mainstream hits, but it did win over even more fans in the college rock and indie music scenes. Much of the success of Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart was built off the college radio mainstay “Eye Of Fatima, Pt. 1”. The first half of a two-part song suite, “Eye Of Fatima, Pt. 1” finds the band mixing their folk roots with some alt-rock guitar sonics and a light touch of country, to create a song that is aurally unusual without being overly weird or off-putting. Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart was a moderate success but the shift in tone and direction left some within the band unhappy and following the supporting tour violinist and multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Segal left the group, leaving the band without a core part of their sound.

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4. “The History Of Utah” – Camper Van Beethoven: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

4. “The History Of Utah” – Camper Van Beethoven

(From the album Camper Van Beethoven)

1986

Even though Camper Van Beethoven had only been putting out music for a little under two years at this point, the band was already three albums in and a key player in the American college radio scene. Their self-titled third album may have been their creative highpoint yet, simultaneously filled with both more pop songcraft and weird stylistic detours. One example of this is “The History of Utah”, a song that may (or may not) be about Mormon pioneers, a crime boss, and an alien abduction…maybe. Musically, “The History of Utah” is a strangely surrealistic mashup of psychedelic folk, weird Americana, and punk rock. While not a hit (Camper Van Beethoven never really had one in spite of the continued cultural presence of “Take The Skinheads Bowling”) “The History of Utah” does showcase what Camper Van Beethoven were the masters of in the mid-1980’s; namely making music that mixed a wide variety of styles and genres and then littering those songs with junk culture references and abstract, absurdist, humorous lyrics, until they had created a sound that was almost completely unique and quite interesting.

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3. “Good Guys & Bad Guys” – Camper Van Beethoven: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

3. “Good Guys & Bad Guys” – Camper Van Beethoven

(From the album Camper Van Beethoven)

1986

Camper Van Beethoven released their second album of 1986 (and third in a year and a half) with their self-titled album Camper Van Beethoven. Despite their prolific output, there is no drop in quality. In fact, Camper Van Beethoven may be the peak of their work. For much of the album Camper Van Beethoven work with psychedelic folky Eugene Chadbourne, who is a great fit for the band. The album continues on in the same general vein as their previous work, combining a wide array of musical influences from both within the US and from around the world. This can be heard right out of the gate with the folk meets reggae meets pop meets country blend of “Good Guys & Bad Guys”. While “Good Guys & Bad Guys” is not a radical departure from their previous work the song does feel more produced, as if being shaped for some possible radio play, and the lyrics (perhaps) are designed as a bit of light social commentary on the division caused by the Cold War. Still, Camper Van Beethoven is no bid for mainstream acceptance. The album still explores country and Americana music on songs like “Hoe Yourself Down” and “We Love You”, plays around with 60’s style pop and psychedelia on “We Saw Jerry’s Daughter”, and has several winking nods to classic rock (specifically Led Zeppelin) on “Five Sticks” and their twisted reinterpretation of a part of “Stairway To Heaven”. Camper Van Beethoven even does a cover of Pink Floyd’s “Interstellar Overdrive” that they manage to make their own. While miles away from the mainstream, the eclecticism and sense of humor found here on Camper Van Beethoven would continue to be an important influence on alternative rock.

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2. “Sad Lover’s Waltz” – Camper Van Beethoven: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

2. “Sad Lover’s Waltz” – Camper Van Beethoven

(From the album II & III)

1986

Shortly after releasing their debut record Telephone Free Landslide Victory Camper Van Beethoven added new lead guitarist Greg Lisher and drummer Anthony Guess left the group. This new core lineup, expanded by a few friends and guest musicians, then quickly went back into the studio to record some new songs. This same group of musicians then returned to the studio later for a second recording session and these two studio sessions would result in Camper Van Beethoven’s second album, the somewhat confusingly titled II & III. In general, II & III follows the blueprint of Telephone Free Landslide Victory, although in a sense that means it doesn’t really follow any blueprint at all. Like its predecessor II & III finds Camper Van Beethoven doing whatever they want, following any muse that strikes them, and then mashing it all together in a bewildering blend of styles and genres, sometimes within the same song. Among the highlights is the relatively straightforward classic country of “Sad Lover’s Waltz”, which finds Camper Van Beethoven writing a strong traditional country song and then giving it a small dash of irony to be hip and cool. However, ironic or not, there is an attention to detail that shows that the band has an obvious love for the genre. The steel guitar is perfectly placed, the rhythmic swing is accurate to the style, Segal’s violin adds a winsome, melancholy feel, and Lowery’s vocals (backed expertly by Segal) have the needed emotion to pull off old-time country music. A country song like “Sad Lover’s Waltz” was unlikely to find the underground success that “Take The Skinheads Bowling” had done (and it didn’t) but the song is a highlight of II & III, an album that proves that Telephone Free Landslide Victory was not a happy accident or novelty record. Anyone who liked the first album will find a lot to love about the second as well.

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