The Jesus and Mary Chain - Munki - Indie LP [ Record ]

Indie Exclusive, 180 Gram Vinyl, Colored Vinyl, Blue, Red

To celebrate the album's 25-year anniversary, The Jesus And Mary Chain are reissuing their long-sold-out sixth studio album 'Munki'. Released on Fuzz Club, the reissue arrives on CD and gatefold double LP. The vinyl has been remastered by Pete Maher (The Rolling Stones, Jack White, Liam Gallagher). Originally released June 2nd 1998 on Sub Pop / Creation Records, 'Munki' was - up until the Mary Chain's reformation in 2007 - an experimental rock'n'roll masterclass turned swan song for the Reid brothers, whose fractious in-fighting culminated in the band's break-up less than a year after it's release. It is perhaps fitting that 'Munki' is argued by some as the definitive Mary Chain record in the way it seemed to chart the full array of musical directions the band had ploughed over the five records that came before.

The decision to bookend the album with Jim's rousing sing-along 'I Love Rock 'N' Roll' and William's caustic white-noise anthem 'I Hate Rock 'N' Roll' perfectly captures the two-fold tension at the heart of the Mary Chain at that time - a tension between noise and melody, and warring brothers. Across the album's 17 tracks and 70-minute running time, there are the expected abrasive noise-rock epics 'Cracking Up' and 'Degenerate' by way of fuzzed-out pop hits like 'Fizzy' and the tender acoustic slow-burner 'Never Understood'. Between the Reid's Glaswegian snarls and unapologetically insolent lyrics - "I'm a mean motherf*cker now, but I once was cool", "McDonald's is sh*t!", "Children are fools!" being just a few lyrical highlights - 'Munki' also features two great guest appearances. Mazzy Star's Hope Sandoval returns for another Mary Chain duet on 'Perfume', which has a swagger that's equal parts menacing and bittersweet, and the Reid's younger sister Linda (Sister Vanilla) sings beautifully on top of 'Moe Tucker's motorik proto-punk scuzz.

A1        I Love Rock 'n' Roll
A2        Birthday
A3        Stardust Remedy
A4        Fizzy
A5        Moe Tucker
B6        Perfume
B7        Virtually Unreal
B8        Degenerate
B9        Cracking Up
C10        Commercial
C11        Supertramp
C12        Never Understood
C13        I Can't Find The Time For Times
D14        Man On The Moon
D15        Black
D16        Dream Lover
D17        I Hate Rock 'n' Roll