I’ve said in another review that the JaMC are a hard band to write about because they aren’t a complex band. They write rock/pop songs with a different take on their alternative style each album. The only thing guaranteed when you listen to a new JaMC album is the Reid brothers and that slick, cool self-confident attitude they always have. Annoys the hell out of some people I bet, but I’ve gotten used to it.

Their confidence feels no more deserved and in-check than it does on Psychocandy. Obviously this is a very significant album that really brought attention to making pop songs built over, under, and around noise feedback. A lot of people ask why anyone would prefer the abrasive noise feedback sound as opposed to just simple pop songs without it.

To put it bluntly, the noise feedback is cathartic. It hints at something darker, more serious and more frustrating than what the fluffy pop songs underneath it would imply by themselves. When Jim Reid sings about his unrequited love driving him mad on “Taste of Cindy”, the noise adds another tone to his words. It’s like he’s screaming out through his instrument, expressing a frustration so strong that it can’t be said in words. That scream of noise is like a big “fuck you” to Cindy and an even bigger “fuck you” to himself.

So that abrasive noise gives more bite and viciousness to what may normally just be saccharine post-punk pop songs. If you’re an emotionally frustrated person, this is the kind of shit that speaks to you. For the record, I don’t listen to harsh noise or anything like that because the pleasant and smooth catchy pop songs underneath are another thing I love. The noise just makes them stronger, makes them resonate more emotionally, if you see what I mean.

So yeah, another thing I love about Psychocandy are the themes present throughout the album. Frequently disturbing imagery about subjects such as unrequited love (Taste of Cindy) or dying love (The Hardest Walk), drug abuse (anything) and general recklessness (The Living End). The hopeless monotone vocals and screeching noise make it sound like whoever wrote these songs is falling apart. I assume the Reid brothers themselves were relatively fine, but a lot of these words definitely come from a dark place, most likely from the disillusioned 80s pop culture underground like a lot of other disturbed albums of the post-punk era did. “Just Like Honey” is the championed song of the album, and while it’s a great song, I think almost everything on Psychocandy can compare to it.

Psychocandy really is one of the best pop albums ever made. It’s got enough variety in the songs, it’s got emotion, doesn’t run a minute too long, the hooks and everything are all there. It’s just a perfect, complete package.