| RECORD REVIEWS |
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Melody Maker 28 July 1990 MY JEALOUS GOD EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU (Rough Trade) |
| Chancers of the week. My Jealous God have seen the future of rock 'n' roll (loping rhythms, stoned-drawl vocals, fuzzy guitar scrawl) and they desperately want a stake in it. Desperately, gormlessly. |
| Paul Lester |
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NME 18 August 1990 MY JEALOUS GOD Everything About You - Dave Haslam re-mix (Rough Trade) Reviewed by Vic Reeves & Bob Mortimer. Hosted by ? |
| Bob: Harry Haslam that sounds smart. This Dave Haslam's done well really because he used to creep around flogging this little mag in Manchester, posh fella, and now he's some sort of engineer or something. Quite good, it gives me the idea of shapes. The Blancmange singer was better. He was one of the only fellas with one of those very thick side-partings that ever made it. That would be good to listen to if you were watching Gary Numan fly one of his jets. |
| Vic: His voice lets him down, he can't be bothered, he's probably a squatter. The rest of them aren't squatters, only the singer. |
| Bob: Yeah but because he's a squatter he gets priority and respect. |
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NME 20 October 1990 MY JEALOUS GOD Pray (Rough Trade) |
| Just in case you were a total dullard and hadn't realised that My Jealous God were inspired by 'the best of Hendrix psychedelic guitar and contemporary dance' there's a helpful 'Beats' version of 'Pray' on the 12-inch which strips away the hectoring guitar and mellow vocals and lets the cruising groove dominate. Problem is the instrumental is far more enticing than the sung 'Pray' where they sound like a sort of roll-your-own Soup Dragons. Main God-head Jim Melly will end up institutionalised if he makes many more on-the-telly appearances claiming to be more of a hot media property than Gazza. But for now this is vaguely on target without having the killer instincts of 'Everything About You'. |
| Roger Morton |
| LIVE REVIEWS |
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NME 2 June 1990 TRASHCAN SINATRAS MY JEALOUS GOD LONDON BORDERLINE |
| An obvious but worthwhile point to start with is the current swing back towards Designer Bands (are Flowered Up the new Blue Rondo A La Turk? The Charlatans the new Merton Parkas?). We've all been a tad guilty in this, but as Malcolm McLaren would say, some are more guilty than others. |
| My Jealous God have an element of the Designer Band about them with their splatterings of wah-wah guitar, rattling percussion and singer Jim Melly's floppy dancing. But amid the Ride / Mondays reference points Melly is actually a bit of a star, plus you get the forthcoming single 'Everything About You' - a wicked guitar groove with cocky, dry vocals - and six other rasping pieces of fast shaping up '90s pop. |
| The Trashcan Sinatras, meanwhile, are almost a band out of time with their pristine style, tracing the line along from Orange Juice and Aztec Camera. But in swish, strumming pop terms they make a neat anomaly in the current climate. |
| Even in the face of the Borderline crowd's ominous respectability (shoulder bags and banality) the Trashcans play with a sense of brash pop verve: their gentle, wry Scottishness taking on a more fiery disposition than their vinyl gives them credit for. |
| Almost a year on from seeing them the first time they've built themselves an aura of on-stage confidence, singer Frank Read having gone from being a total hatstand to Mr Elastic Man, shaking off his nervousness. |
| Tonight's highlights include the two singles 'Only Tongues Can Tell' and 'Obscurity Knocks', showing off their bittersweet mix of politeness and (cute?) insecurity, a good approach to pop, that at the end of the night leaves you on their side. Don't be fooled by the sheen of the songs, this is smart music. Within the breadth of the set, there's a serrated angst-style lyrical edge and attitude. Stick at it. |
| Steve Lamacq |
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NME 27 October 1990 MY JEALOUS GOD LONDON CAMDEN PALACE |
| Are My Jealous God gonna be the final straw that breaks the baggy camel's back? Too unbearably contrived, too awkwardly using all the right influences, the clothes, the hair, a reminder that this sort of thing is flagging simply because it's too sickeningly easy to do. Do MJG have any more dimensions? |
| If we're to find out, Camden Palace won't be such a bad place to do so. A massive three-tier pick-up joint full of drunks and tarts, a scummy place where people are more interested in pinching arses than checking out the band. Not many fans here to help them through, although a few baggy jeans lurk in corners too cool to dance to The Cult, so this will be a test. |
| In July the single, 'Everything About You' put 'em up there, even if it was a Dave Haslam mix that got to you. This month their second single, 'Pray', isn't as good, passable but no killer, but then again it hasn't been given the treatment yet. I'm sure a lot of people are waiting for some hard evidence that there's more to the band than trend-following to be enticed. Tonight's the proof. You can tell when the previously packed dancefloor stops, empties a bit, while the rest stare at this band daring to halt their fun, that this isn't going to be an easy ride. |
| Stripped of their tinkered rhythms, mellow vocals and all the rest of the studio trickery MJG are a well hard proposition. Their only discernible link to fashion is that they have their own funky drummer and a tedious organ sound. For the rest you have to look further back to The Teardrop Explodes to gain a foothold on their sound. This is alright by me, as the dirty guitars, filthy bass and ragged vocals make a welcome change. |
| So they did have something up their sleeves, 'Everything About You' growls where it once purred but keeps the groove. Less dance more rock, MJG prove they are far more than a DJ's construction. One day they may even be as good as singer Jim Melly thinks they are. |
| Simon Dudfield |
| Thanks to Jo Fisher for the clipping. |