The Jesus and Mary Chain continue to stand out for their out-of-the-box positions. This time Jim and William Reid criticized both the “shoegaze” label and Eddie Van Halen, one of the most celebrated guitarists in rock history.
Interviewed during the Total Bummer festival in New York, where they performed together with Dinosaur Jr., the Reid brothers disputed the term with which the British scene that developed between the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s is commonly identified. For Jim Reid, in fact, it is an artificial definition: “I have a problem with the term shoegaze because it doesn't really exist. It was invented by some NME clown.”
The discussion then moved on to the role of the guitar and the approach to the instrument. Jim Reid explained that he has always favored spontaneity and instinct over pure technique, a vision that places him at odds with that embodied by Eddie Van Halen. William Reid's judgment was even more severe: “I think guitarists should never learn scales. Eddie Van Halen? I can't stand his playing. He ruined rock guitar in the 80s and 90s because so many people tried to copy him. I never appreciated that rush to play as fast as possible and squeeze in as many notes in a second.”
To explain his idea of musicality, William cited Peter Hook, historic bassist of Joy Division and New Order, claiming that his riff are “a thousand times better than anything Eddie Van Halen could have invented.” Words intended to fuel the debate among fans, considering the weight that both Eddie Van Halen and the Jesus and Mary Chain have had in the evolution of rock, despite representing two profoundly different conceptions of the guitar and musical writing.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
