The Jesus and Mary Chain to headline Roadmender

Scottish alternative icons The Jesus and Mary Chain bring their Damage and Joy tour to the Roadmender next week.
Jim and William ReidJim and William Reid
Jim and William Reid

The band released their seventh album in March, their first LP in 19 years.

One of the most influential bands of their era, The Jesus and Mary Chain released their debut album Psychocandy in 1985, going onto release more LPs during the late 80s and early 90s. Disbanding around the end of the 1990s, the band led by brothers Jim and William Reid reformed to play Coachella in 2007.

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Despite regular touring – most notably a 2015 world tour which revisited Psychocandy, it took some time before they could agree on a plan to record a seventh album.

“We started to – can you believe – listen to each other a bit more,” explains Jim.

“In the past couple of years, we’ve buried the hatchet to some degree, and thankfully not into each other.

“Most people who know us would say that we haven’t mellowed that much.

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“I think it was to do with the fact, dare I say it, that wisdom comes with age. Let’s live and let live and let’s take each other’s opinions into account.”

Work on Damage and Joy began in 2015, with producer Youth also contributing bass and diplomacy to proceedings during sessions in London, Dublin and Granada in Spain.

It also features performances from the band’s touring drummer Brian Young and former Lush bassist Phil King.

“The interesting thing about this record is what comes out of the speakers,” explains Jim. “To make a good record is an achievement if you’re 22, but to do it in your 50s, the way we are, I think is a minor miracle.”

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Supporting the JAMC is Brix & the Extricated, who release their new album Part 2 this week. Brix Smith-Start’s best-selling 2016 autobiography, The Rise, The Fall And The Rise, detailed a hugely eventful life including the years in which she was married to Fall singer Mark E Smith and wrote songs and played guitar in the group.

Steve Hanley’s own acclaimed memoir, 2014’s The Big Week, revealed what it was really like to spend 18 years in the Fall, the longest spell of any member of the iconic and influential Salford group.

Together, with Steve’s brother Paul, guitarist Steve Trafford (both also Fall refugees) and Irish guitarist Jason Brown, they are now Brix & the Extricated.

All play the Roadmender on Wednesday, September 27. Doors open at 7pm. Tickets cost £29.50 before fees, via www.theroadmender.com

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