Though its lacks the heavenly sonic squall of PSYCHOCANDY, the Jesus & Mary Chain's second album, DARKLANDS, finds the notorious Scottish post-punk band rivaling that impressive debut with a considerably more melodic set of songs. While the title is a bit misleading--DARKLANDS is surprisingly sunny at times--even some of the disc's brighter tunes have goth-friendly themes, namely the chiming, Velvet Underground-influenced opening title track and the amped-up anthem "Happy When It Rains" (a mid-tempo precursor to the following record's raucous "Head On").

On this outing, percussionist Bobby Gillespie (who went on to form Primal Scream) is replaced by a well-behaved drum machine, but this seemingly detrimental change works remarkably well, allowing the focus to zoom in tighter on the icy vocals and toned-down but still reverb-drenched guitar lines of brothers Jim and William Reid. Other highlights of the album include the propulsive "Down on Me" and the brokenhearted "April Skies," one of the Reids' most accessible songs. DARKLANDS is essential for Mary Chain fans, and crucial to any extensive collection of late-1980s rock.

Feeling no doubt burdened by the various claims of being the new Sex Pistols, and likely fed up with accusations that the walls of feedback were their own trick, the Reid brothers underwent a bit of a rethink with Darklands. The end result must have fallen squarely between two camps -- hardly eligible for sunny commercial airplay, not quite as flailing as the earliest efforts -- but, from a distance, this is an appealing, enjoyable record. Songs were often longer while the album itself was shorter than Psychocandy, walls of sound were often stripped away in favor of calmer classic rock twang and groove, while William Reid took the lead vocal at points, showing he had a slightly sweeter, wistful tone in comparison to his brother. However, the changes on Darklands can be overstated -- the basic formula at the heart of the band (inspired plagiarism of melodies and lyrics alike, plenty of reverb, etc.) stayed pretty much the same, even if the mixes were cleaned up -- compare "Down on Me" to any Psychocandy cut for a good example of the difference. The use of drum machines in place of Bobby Gillespie's rumble tended to enforce the newer focus, but at the album's best, such a seeming dichotomy didn't cause too much worry. "April Skies" made for a great single, while the soaring-in-spite-of-itself "Happy When It Rains" was another winner, one that Garbage more or less made its own some years later for its own similarly titled hit. William's singing turns made for other highlights as well, notably "Nine Million Rainy Days," the overt misery of the title suiting the dark crawl of the song, and the lengthy lament "On the Wall." Darklands is no Psychocandy in the end -- nothing the band released later ever was -- but it's still a good listen. ~ Ned Raggett