Honey's Dead
Dave DiMartino / Entertainment Weekly
15.05.1992
15.05.1992
THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN
Honey's Dead
(Def American)
These onetime darlings of rock's avant-garde haven't changed much in seven years-and it's starting to get boring. Scottish siblings William and Jim Reid are still swiping chord changes from rock & roll evergreens, still doctoring the mix with a few scattered feedback howls, still calling the derivative mess their own, and still hoping you won't notice-or at least mind too much. So when "Almost Gold" lifts the melody of Phil Spector's "Baby, I Love You," "Frequency" likewise uses the Modern Lovers' "Roadrunner," and half of the whole shebang sounds like it's being sung by the Beach Boys' nasal front man, Mike Love, is there any point in even complaining? But come on: When your most vivid lyric-the banned-in-Britain "I wanna die just like Jesus Christ I wanna die just like JFK"-sounds like Madison Avenue's idea of snotty, and you're being outshone regularly by dozens of British bands you inspired, you're almost dead, honeys.
C+ Dave DiMartino
Honey's Dead
(Def American)
These onetime darlings of rock's avant-garde haven't changed much in seven years-and it's starting to get boring. Scottish siblings William and Jim Reid are still swiping chord changes from rock & roll evergreens, still doctoring the mix with a few scattered feedback howls, still calling the derivative mess their own, and still hoping you won't notice-or at least mind too much. So when "Almost Gold" lifts the melody of Phil Spector's "Baby, I Love You," "Frequency" likewise uses the Modern Lovers' "Roadrunner," and half of the whole shebang sounds like it's being sung by the Beach Boys' nasal front man, Mike Love, is there any point in even complaining? But come on: When your most vivid lyric-the banned-in-Britain "I wanna die just like Jesus Christ I wanna die just like JFK"-sounds like Madison Avenue's idea of snotty, and you're being outshone regularly by dozens of British bands you inspired, you're almost dead, honeys.
C+ Dave DiMartino
