I haven’t quite followed The Jesus and Mary Chain for their whole career but it isn’t far off. I picked up a 7” of ‘Some Candy Talking’ from the record shop that every village had after hearing it on the radio, but it was as an angsty teenager at sixth form college that I was hooked. One of my few friends lent me one side of his headphones as his Walkman churned out the dark croons of ‘Darklands’ . I never tired of this album and faithfully grabbed their vinyl release when I could throughout the ‘Automatic’ and ‘Honey’s Dead’ eras. I lost track for sometime while I got obsessed with hardcore punk though in retrospect I am of the opinion that their last two first era albums are also suitably fine. Throughout all of this time the live experience has eluded me, a real regret of mine due to their reputation for incendiary live shows.

2017 then, sees me address this regret, while also bearing witness to their first tour promoting a new album in the 19 years since ‘Munki’.

Exited? Much?

But first, The Slow Readers Club of Manchester have the task of fanning the embers in the steadily filling O2 Institute in the ever charming Digbeth area of Birmingham. They are hard to pin down, the vocalist channels the spirits of Dave Vanian and perhaps even Wayne Hussey, the guitars have a rather old school gothic chime and jangle to them. The songs all have a definite minor key feel to them, yet ‘goth’ doesn’t fit as a tag. ‘Dark pop’ is a fair stab in my opinion, calling to mind ‘O Children’, ‘White Lies’ and perhaps even a touch of ‘Hurts’. Live, they are a solid proposition. Assured, steady and soulful vocals, a superbly mixed and warm bass sound and guitars that shimmer with a clarity. The drummer bashes home their largely mid tempo but pleasingly listenable creations. No, they are not pretentious, not flamboyant, they don’t show boat, strut and preen, they just get the job done unfussily, and well. Set closer ‘I Saw a Ghost’ is a definite highlight.

After an unhealthy dose of give change over boredom, The Jesus and Mary Chain finally grace the stage, which is minimally lit with strobing green and red lights. So dark was the stage, were it not for the unmistakable barnet of William Reid it could have been anyone on the stage. The set commences with a cut from new album ‘Damage and Joy’ before moving on the classic ‘April Skies’. While undeniably both great songs, at this point the sound hasn’t quite gelled and the April skies are just a little cloudy. Then things click, and noisily too much to my glee. The wall of sound is thorough, with every audible frequency catered for with heaps of frazzled fuzz and feedback. The Jesus and Mary Chain were never a heavy band, drawing from surf and garage rock, punk and psychedelia, but they are undoubtedly loud, noisy and at times extreme.

While ‘Darklands’ has always been my favoured album, tonight it is the tracks lifted from ‘Automatic’ and ‘Honey’s Dead’ that excite. ‘Blues From A Gun’, ‘Head On’ and ‘Teenage Lust’ all sound immense and full of vigour. In amongst these, the new songs comfortably nestle. ‘All Things Pass’, ‘Mood Rider’ and the opening number ‘Amputation’ all go down nicely, well composed and hooks that sneak out of the wall of noise to ensnare. The main set closes with the ever vicious ‘Reverence’. I had forgotten just how violent this song sounds, battering ears and souls into submission with the help of an enjoyable if anticipated soaking of feedback that fills the vacated stage.

The encore cements how heavily the band are plundering the earlier albums, in particular ‘Psychocandy’ and ‘Darklands’, with ‘Nine Million Rainy Days’ through to ‘Taste of Cindy’ bleeding heavily from the speakers. What is noticeable is the absence of material from ‘Stoned and Dethroned’ and ‘Munki despite both albums being well thought of entries in the J&MC discography.

Nevertheless, the evening feels complete, with the new material not at all unevenly matched by past glories. The dense and splintered sound of the brothers Reid and company still satisfies in that slightly painful way. It may have taken them 19 years to reach this pint of having a new album to tour but it doesn’t feel that way. This punter travelled home with a warm and fuzzy afterglow and more than a touch of tinnitus.