[[quoteright:321:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jmc.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:321: The Reid brothers]]

->''"I don't mind about the state of my mind''
->''But you know it's good for nothing''
->''And I left you behind''
->''It's a sick sick city''
->''But it's never gonna make me insane"''
-->--'''"Blues from a Gun"'''

The Jesus and Mary Chain are the {{Trope Codifier}}s for the genre of NoisePop.

The band was formed in 1983 by Scottish brothers Jim and William Reid, who wanted to put together their passion for noisy rock and experimental music (Music/VelvetUnderground and Music/EinsturzendeNeubauten especially) with their love of classic pop such as [[Music/TheBeachBoys Brian Wilson]], Music/PhilSpector and various {{Girl Group}}s. Jim assumed lead vocal duties, while William became the lead guitarist. They then happened upon an idea: Why not use catchy pop melodies, play them through an ear destroying amount of feedback and noise, and sing [[DullSurprise like you're about to fall asleep at any moment]]?

Jim and William have remained the [[IAmTheBand only two constant members of the band since]], with a large assortment of musicians floating through various lineups, mostly for live performances, as the brothers ended up handling everything (guitars, bass, drum machine programming, synthesizers). JAMC soon signed with Creator/CreationRecords, releasing their debut album ''Music/{{Psychocandy}}'' in 1985. This brought critical acclaim to the band and has retained historical importance as the first NoisePop album.

The Jesus and Mary Chain became infamous for having short concerts (generally around 20 minutes) that ended with violence or riots, a reputation that stayed with them throughout their early years. The brothers felt they had done as much as they could with pure noise pop and made their next albums, ''Darklands'' and ''Automatic'', {{New Sound Album}}s -- the former was more melodic and acoustic while the latter was classic rock influenced AlternativeRock. Both were well received and spawned a few hits ("Happy When It Rains" and "Darklands" for the former, "Head On" and "Blues from a Gun" for the latter).

The band's first album of TheNineties, ''Honey's Dead'', continued with the sound of ''Automatic'' but added more [[IndustrialMetal Industrial Rock]] and [[AlternativeDance Madchester]] influences. Its first single, "Reverence" attracted controversy for its lyrics (with choice couplets like 'I wanna die just like UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} Christ/I wanna die on a bed of spikes" and "I wanna die just like [[UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy JFK]]/I wanna die in the USA") and was banned from being played on BBC Radio 1 and ''Series/TopOfThePops''. [[NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity It became a hit in the UK anyway]]. Another NewSoundAlbum followed, ''Stoned & Dethroned'', which was very melodic and folky, but intra-band tensions were worsening. After another album, The Jesus and Mary Chain split up in 1999.

The band received more attention post-split through RevivalByCommercialization, as Creator/SofiaCoppola used their song "Just Like Honey" at the end of ''Film/LostInTranslation2003''. After years of Jim and William barely even speaking to each other the band finally reunited in 2007, playing for the first time in 8 years at the Coachella Festival. Notably, Creator/ScarlettJohansson joined them on stage to sing backing vocals on "Just Like Honey". They've toured off and on since then, and a new album eventually appeared in 2017.
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!! Discography:
* ''Music/{{Psychocandy}}'' (1985)
* ''Darklands'' (1987)
* ''Barbed Wire Kisses'' (1988) - compilation of B-sides and non-album material.
* ''Automatic'' (1989)
* ''Honey's Dead'' (1992)
* ''The Sound of Speed'' (1993) - compilation of B-sides and non-album material.
* ''Stoned & Dethroned'' (1994)
* ''Munki'' (1998)
* ''The Power of Negative Thinking: B-sides and Rarities'' (2008) - box set.
* ''Damage and Joy'' (2017)
* ''Glagow Eyes'' (2024)
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!! The Jesus and Mary Trope:
* AlternativeRock: One of the {{Trope Codifier}}s for the genre.
* BandOfRelatives: Jim and William are brothers.
* {{Bookends}}: ''Munki'' begins with "I Love Rock and Roll" and ends with "I Hate Rock and Roll." ''Honey's Dead'' opens with "Reverence" and ends with "Frequency", which is basically "Reverence" done InTheStyleOf Music/TheModernLovers.
* BreakupSong: "April Skies"
-->''And there's one thing I couldn't do\\
Sacrifice myself to you''
* CallBack:
** ''Honey's Dead'' was meant to lampshade that they didn't sound like "Just Like Honey" anymore.
** Thirteen years after "Never Understand", they write a song (on ''Munki'') called "Never Understood".
* CoolShades: Frequently.
* CoverVersion: Employed often for B-sides. Includes Music/TheBeachBoys' "Surfin' USA" and Music/LeonardCohen's "Tower of Song", among others. The B-side to their debut single went as far as covering a song that wasn't officially released at the time: "Vegetable Man" by Music/PinkFloyd, who withheld the original version from release until 2016 (it was, however, a popular bootleg among Floydians in the interim).
* ElvisLives: ...and Music/BobDylan's dead, according to "Fizzy".
* HappyRain: "Happy When It Rains", though both the lyrics and Jim's typical [[FlatJoy monotone]] hint that maybe he ''shouldn't'' be happy about it.
-->''Looking at me enjoying something\\
That feels like feels like pain''
* IAmTheBand: Jim and William are the primary writers and performers on all of their albums, as well as the only consistent members. This is most prominent on ''Darklands'' and ''Automatic'', the only two albums to feature no band members outside of the Reid brothers.
* LetsDuet: "Sometimes Always" on ''Stoned & Dethroned'' with [[Music/MazzyStar Hope Sandoval]], "Two Of Us" on ''Damage and Joy'' with [[Music/BelleAndSebastian Isobel Campbell]] or Music/SkyFerreira depending on which version you hear.
* LooksLikeCesare[=/=]EightiesHair: The Reid brothers were known for their [[Music/{{The Cure|Band}} Robert Smith]]-like hair in TheEighties.
* LoudnessWar: Definitely on the first two albums. With feedback.
* LoveIsADrug: "You Trip Me Up", "Some Candy Talking"... actually, pretty much any love song they do will probably have drug metaphors in it, or vice versa.
* NewSoundAlbum: ''Darklands'' moved from NoisePop to skeletal Indie Rock, ''Automatic'' was more '70s HardRock influenced, ''Honey's Dead'' went with more industrial/baggy influences, ''Stoned & Dethroned'' was acoustic and folky, and ''Munki'' was more noisy AlternativeRock. They never completely abandoned the noise, though the ratio of it to Indie Rock varied with every album.
* NoisePop: {{Trope Codifier}}s with ''Psychocandy''. Later albums are less this and more AlternativeRock, though they always had some noise going on.
* PerishingAltRockVoice: Both brothers have breathy, sleepy voices. Qualify as {{Trope Codifier}}s as well.
* RereleaseTheSong: Several songs on ''Damage and Joy'' are re-recordings of tracks from various solo projects.
* RuleOfCool: They're reliant on this musically, especially the campy HardRock of ''Automatic''.
* ShoutOut:
** "Kill Surf City" is one to Music/JanAndDean's "Surf City."
** They have a song called "[[Music/VelvetUnderground Moe Tucker]]."
** And one called "Music/BoDiddley [[BlasphemousBoast is]] Jesus."
** ''Glasgow Eyes'' includes songs titled "The {{Music/Eagles}} and Music/TheBeatles" and "Hey [[Music/LouReed Lou Reid]]" [[note]]also a PunBasedTitle combining Lou Reed's name with that of the Reid brothers[[/note]]
* SiblingRivalry: Oh yeah.
-->'''Jim:''' After each tour we wanted to kill each other, and after the final tour we tried.
* SomethingBlues: The B-side "Write Record Release Blues"
* StandardSnippet: The distinct dum-du-dum-tsch drum beat that kicks off "Just Like Honey" was originally a ShoutOut to The Ronettes' "Be My Baby", but has since been used by just about every indie rock band.
* StartMyOwn: No less than two of their [[RevolvingDoorBand drummers]] did this with a fair amount of success -- Bobby Gillespie with Music/PrimalScream, and John Moore with Black Box Recorder.
* SurprisinglyGentleSong: Make that ''album'' -- ''Darklands'' and ''Stoned & Dethroned''.
* TakeThat: "I Hate Rock and Roll" has sarcastic disdain for Creator/{{MTV}} and Creator/TheBBC.
--> "I love it when they're shittin' on me."
* ThreeChordsAndTheTruth: Their music is very simplistic, sometimes not even bothering with a third chord. As described in the booklet included in ''The Power of Negative Thinking'', the Reid brothers were more concerned with the feel of the music than technical ability.
* WordSaladLyrics
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