He is one cool dood.

Such an incredible album. Better, possibly, than Eureka. Who would have imagined Jim O'Rourke's best work would be his crispest and poppiest.

Time to go home and listen to some more JAMC. Maybe Honey's Dead?

2 > 1

No, turned out to be Automatic.

What's next?

Call me crazy but these latter day JAMC platters have this vibe that to me is like 60s mod in a way. I can't quite put my finger on it. Not mod precisely like London mod but just a blissy 60s mod California vibe.

Do you know what I mean? Almost groovy.

Am I crazy? Am I elevating this band too much? God, I think they're great.

Answer me, somebody.

I blame it on the rock and roll.

The kids have been enjoying this blast from the past. And by kids I mean my kids, not "the kids".

 

Morphine ~ Cure for Pain

Almost a little too beautiful hipster/loser bar fly-ish, if you know what I mean, for my taste, but it's growing on me.

Okay back to AUTOMATIC by the Jesus Chain Gang

From Pitchfork. Yeah, I hate Pitchfork. Fuckers rate Auto and Honey's Dead pretty low. Fuck them. But the reviews are interesting anyway:

Automatic (1989): Conventional wisdom wrongly calls this the dud. With the band reduced to the brothers only, things go artificial: The drum machine is foregrounded, the bass is played on keyboards, the feedback’s on vacation. In that space, the Reids take their biggest shot at doing full-on pop, something that-- on a global alternative classic like the Pixies-covered “Head On”-- feels like a career peak. The rockier album cuts get pretty turgid, and both Reids start to feel like parodies of themselves, but at points they fall into a synthetic rock grind that’s almost industrial-- fascinating, in a time-capsule kind of way. [ME: At times?! Fuck you. All through this album, fuckwads. Just because these guys got the balls to rock and you don't... . I mean, does your wife ever let you get to play the stereo LOUD!? Fuck you, you pathetic pitchfork loser.]

Honey’s Dead (1992): Conventional wisdom wrongly calls this the return to form, mostly because they got a drummer and wrote some lively tunes. The problem is that the well-recorded feedback and effortful Jagger yowling here sound like two guys straining to be cool, the exact thing that Psychocandy evaded. It’s also their first fully contemporary grunge-era record, so if you wanted to hear a rock band try, you could just buy something current. [ME: Again, a big fuck you. Did you LISTEN to this record? Do you have BLOOD in your veins? Are you a zombie? Do you know how to fuck, you fuckwad?]

Cool.

I think this is one of the most under-appreciated bands of the late 80s/early 90s.

I got hooked through Automatic, one of the first CDs I bought, having finally joined the digital revolution around Christmas of 1989. I still have that CD, although I recently purchased the Plain Recordings LP reissue (which I highly recommend). This album thrills me as much today as when I first put it on that chilly winter evening back in suburban Hampton, VA, in 1989. Nothing I'd heard in a long time made me feel so good and so restless at the same time.

I'm on to Darklands now. Forgot just how good this one is.

Buzzcocks- Singles Going Steady

^ Nice choice.