Jesus & Mary Chain - Munki [Indie-Exclusive Blue & Red Vinyl]

Originally released June 2nd 1998 on Sub Pop / Creation Records, ‘Munki’ was – up until the Mary Chain’s reformation in 2007 – an experimental rock’n’roll masterclass turned swan song for the Reid brothers, whose fractious in-fighting culminated in the band’s break-up less than a year after its release. It was perhaps fitting, then, that ‘Munki’ is argued by some as the definitive Mary Chain record in the way it seemed to chart the full array of musical directions the band had ploughed over the five records that came before. The decision to bookend the album with Jim’s rousing sing-along ‘I Love Rock 'N' Roll’ and William’s caustic white-noise anthem ‘I Hate Rock 'N' Roll’ perfectly captures the two-fold tension at the heart of the Mary Chain at that time – a tension between noise and melody, and warring brothers. Across the album’s 17 tracks and 70-minute running time, there are the expected abrasive noise-rock epics ‘Cracking Up’ and ‘Degenerate’ by way of fuzzed-out pop hits like ‘Fizzy’ and the tender acoustic slow-burner ‘Never Understood’.