The Jesus And Mary Chain Confirm That New Album Will Arrive Next Year

11/28/07 12:30pm

by Michelle Singerman (CHARTattack)

Once retired Scottish rock band The Jesus And Mary Chain took the stage for the first time in almost 10 years at April's Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival. That performance, and a few subsequent gigs, have prepared them to release a new album next spring or summer.

After a successful career from 1984 to 1999, brothers Jim and William Reid had enough of each other. Drug and alcohol abuse led to the demise of the group, who were once compared to the Sex Pistols by U.K. tabloids. The parallels were drawn for antics like being kicked out of their record company's office for starting a fight, being arrested for amphetamines in Germany and hitting two fans with a microphone stand at a 1987 concert in Toronto.

The reverb-drenched duo played their last show in 1999, but an attempt at solo careers brought them back together this past spring.

"I originally started working on both Jim's and William's solo albums, and when I approached [promoter] Goldenvoice about getting Jim a solo gig at Coachella, they came back with an offer for The Jesus & Mary Chain," manager Kevin Oberlin told Billboard.com. "We thought having the band reunite for Coachella would help set up both of their solo albums, but the very next day after the show, Jim and William did an interview and said that they were going to do a new Mary Chain album."

The brothers have apparently written dozens of songs separately, and they're looking to get that down to around 12 for the album. The band played "All Things Must Pass" on David Letterman's late-night television show this summer and have inserted "Dead End Kids" into their recent concerts.

William Reid apparently no longer drinks during shows and his brother is said to be completely sober, but William admits that they may lose it on each other again one day despite their best efforts to keep everything together.

"We love this band and we love each other."

The new album is currently in the works along with a four-disc Rhino boxed set titled The Power Of Negative Thinking: B-Sides And Rarities, which includes a career-spanning collection of unheard performances, demos and B-sides. Rhino reissued five Jesus & Mary Chain albums last year.

The group's last studio effort, 1998's Munki, was released by Sub Pop, but they have no label obligations now.

The Reid brothers both contributed to the excellent but overlooked Little Pop Rock debut album from their younger sister Linda's band, Sister Vanilla, which came out earlier this year via Chemikal Underground.