Great Songs from My Favorite Year in Music: 1985, Part 16

The Jesus and Mary Chain - "Just Like Honey"



(Single Release: September 1985)
I may have come to Jesus (and Mary Chain) late, but not that late. The first record I ever bought from the J&MC was the "April Skies" 12" single in 1987. I've been in love with the songs of Jim and William Reid ever since, only having to go backward one album to catch up. I make this comment because it seems that these days, a whole new generation are discovering the greatness of this Scottish band through the film, Lost in Translation. As they say, I suppose for those people, it's better to show up late than to never show up at all. Looking back, it's fairly amazing to me that "Just Like Honey" was the third single from Psychocandy. Everything about the song seems to point toward it being the breakout track from that album. For one, it's the first song you hear on the album, side one, track one. For another, it's incredibly accessible. While the band often veered toward discordant guitar fuzz, "Just Like Honey" is dreamy, atmospheric, and even. The reverberant fuzzed out guitars don't seem jarring, but rather like a security blanket. I think if I had to narrow down this 1985 list to ten songs, this would easily be among them.