It's New to Me: The Power of Negative Thinking - B-Sides & Rarities by the Jesus and Mary Chain (2010)

Panel from Hit Comics #26, February 1943

If I was a real Jesus and Mary Chain fan from back in the day, I'd probably be experiencing The Power of Negative Thinking very differently. I'd be more enamored of the band's early sound, and their later records would be the period when "they got boring". Coming to the JAMC records later in life, though, I tend to like their mid-period sound the best, even though I acknowledge that their debut album Psychocandy was the real game-changer. Listening to a four-disc collection of their non-album tracks, though, I'm drawn to the meaty middle of their discogaphy, and I find I'm less interesting in their first and last recordings.

The first disc of The Power of Negative Thinking is devoted to the band's first recordings before and concurrent with 1985's Psychocandy. For the diehard fans, this is the valuable disc in the collection because (a) these tracks are the sound of a band exploring brand new territory and blowing minds, and (b) the band has never released a prior collection covering all these early recordings (much of the other material in this set has been released across three previous compilations). To me, though, the best tracks on this disc are the ones that ended up on the album Psychocandy in a different form and, if I wanted to listen to Psychocandy, I'd listen to Psychocandy. The songwriting on the early b-sides is pretty spotty - unlike the superior Psychocandy tracks, the melodies aren't good enough to combine alchemically with the waves of noise.

The second and third discs of The Power of Negative Thinking are excellent, though, with a great mix of album-quality songwriting and loose-and-fun covers (including songs by the Temptations, 13th Floor Elevators, and Prince!) I tend to think that the band's non-album material peaked during the Automatic/Honey's Dead years, and there are some nicetunes here that were omitted from earlier b-sides collections like Barbed Wire Kisses, The Sound of Speed, and Hate Rock 'n' Roll. For instance, "Terminal Beach" from the "Head On" single is quickly becoming one of my all-time favorite JAMC tracks, with a delicate application of their earlier surf-rock influences to the chugging, drum-machine style of the Automatic era. The fourth disc of The Power of Negative Thinking has a slight dip in quality, but I find myself enjoying even the band's last single tracks a bit, making me wonder if the post-Stoned-and-Dethroned albums may be worth getting after all.

"Terminal Beach" by the Jesus and Mary Chain