Review: 40 years after the band's formation, The Jesus & Mary Chain have delivered their eighth studio album, their first full length release of new material for seven years. Admirably, the Reid brothers have refused to rest on their laurels and offer-up something undeniably nostalgic - catnip for long term fans if you will - but instead have fused elements of their familiar sound and style with plenty of fresh ideas. There are audible nods to Suicide, Kraftwerk and the improvisational practices of jazz, but also tons of fuzz, feedback and aural chaos. It's an invigorating mixture that's best exemplified by 'Jamcod', where the pair's red-raw guitars, low-slung bass and acid-fried vocals rise above a skittish electro beat, the slipped shoegaze-goes-dreampop flex of 'Chemical Animal', and the pleasingly spiky and punchy 'Girl 71'.
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