The Jesus and Mary Chain - Munki - Indie LP
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