As befits an album bookended by tracks titled "I Love Rock N Roll" and "I Hate Rock N Roll," the Jesus and Mary Chain's Sub Pop label debut Munki is schizophrenic and impassioned, a record which both summarizes the band's career to date and cleans the slate for their future. Virtually each of the 17 tracks here echoes a prior moment in the Chain's existence, moving at breakneck pace from the volcanic noise of their earliest material to the bleak grace of Darklands, through to the sleek, supercharged pop of Automatic -- even Mazzy Star's Hope Sandoval makes a cameo, as she did on Stoned & Dethroned. In a sense, it's an ideal primer to the Reid brothers' mercurial world, flirting with both brilliance and mediocrity; even after well over a decade, the Jesus & Mary Chain continue to thrill, irritate, and confound -- they're a true love/hate obsession. -- Jason Ankeny
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