A New Link in Jesus and Mary Chain

This appreciation isn’t for a deceased musician, but for a departed band. The Jesus and Mary Chain, one of the most exciting and influential rock groups of the last 20 years, officially called it quits in 1998, but it disappeared from the pop scene so quietly that no one had a chance to offer farewell.

Or maybe it was just that the Scottish group’s co-founders, brothers Jim and William Reid, had suffered so much commercial frustration and rejection during their volatile run that no knew quite what to say.

Whatever. The arrival in the stores last week of a Jesus and Mary Chain retrospective gives us the chance to finally raise a toast. The Rhino/Warner Bros. collection, “21 Singles/1984-1998,” contains every single released in Britain by the band, including such gems as “Just Like Honey,” “April Skies” and “Head On.”

In England, Q magazine has already hailed the compilation, devoting two full pages to it in its July review section--more space than the new Eminem, Papa Roach and Vines albums combined receive.

The Jesus and Mary Chain’s stark musical sensibilities combined relentless guitar feedback with lovely, inspiring melodies that captured the torment of life’s most difficult moments and the hope that can help pull you through them.

There were so many striking undercurrents in the group’s debut album, 1985’s “Psychocandy,” that critics worked overtime trying to pinpoint the Reids’ influences.

Some heard the dark, obsessive, world-weary themes and pointed to the Velvet Underground. Others heard the guitar shrillness and thought of the chainsaw stylings of Einsturzende Neubauten, the German industrial-rock band. For some, the sweet, disarming melodies were reminiscent of the Beach Boys. Or maybe Burt Bacharach. If those weren’t enough, there was also the youthful adrenaline rush of Phil Spector’s records with the Crystals and the Ronettes.

The Reids, the only permanent members of the band, combined those influences so artfully that the phrase “Jesus and Mary Chain-inspired” is now part of the rock-critic lexicon. The description has been routinely applied to hundreds of bands, from My Bloody Valentine in the late ‘80s to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, one of the most acclaimed of today’s new bands.

But the Jesus and Mary Chain enjoyed only modest commercial success in England, and even less in this country. The music was simply too abrasive for U.S. radio programmers. There were reports that the brothers’ relationship, always volatile, had become so bitter at the end that they couldn’t even stand being in the same room. Never fond of interviews, they simply disappeared from sight.

Given the darkness of their music and the emotionalism of their nature, many old fans assume the Reids are off somewhere still licking their wounds--or worse.

But the story has an optimistic twist. On a whim, I called Rhino Records this week to ask if either of the Reids was doing interviews in connection with the album release, and I wasn’t surprised to hear that they hadn’t agreed to do any. Still, the label representative said he’d send along a request.

I was surprised Wednesday to hear William, the group’s guitarist and chief songwriter, on the phone.

“I’m really proud of the music we made, but it’s the past,” said Reid, 44. “I feel what I’m doing is trying to regain my energy. I was kind of shell-shocked the way the band split up and all.

“Jim and I always had a volatile relationship, but never acrimonious. Yet it became a bit spiteful and bitter toward the end. It took a couple of years for us to realize we do love each other. We’re doing fine now.”

Living in L.A. now, Reid is married with two children. He’s working on new songs for a band he hopes to form sometime next year. He said his brother, the group’s chief vocalist, is working on his own music in England.

The Reids were ambitious at the start of their career, daydreaming about someday playing Shea Stadium like the Beatles. But their shy, withdrawn personalities simply weren’t suited to the demands of rock stardom. As soon as they became an overnight sensation in England in 1985, they seemed to begin retreating.

“I think our ambition had a ceiling,” Reid said. “Getting famous and stuff sounded like a great idea when we started out, but as soon as we got a little bit of fame, we went inward. We did talk about playing Shea Stadium, but we eventually realized that to do that you had to be a different person.

“When I think about another band, I would like to be one of those musicians who is hugely successful but still doesn’t get recognized on the street--someone like Dave Matthews.

“I want to be able to live a normal life. I want it to still be the way I feel now. I’m more secure emotionally than I’ve been in at least 10 years.”

On a final note, Reid expressed sympathy for the bands that keep getting compared to the Jesus and Mary Chain.

“Whenever I read about that band Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, our name is attached to them. I know how that feels. For years, all anyone was talking about was about us sounding like the Beach Boys and the Velvets. It’s like saying we listened to a Velvets album and a Beach Boys album and found a formula. It doesn’t give you credit for what you added to those influences.”