Stoned & Dethroned

They’d pared things back before – on Darklands, their second album, which removed the feedback that had previously coated their songs, and revealed the perfect pop songs at the heart of their music – but Stoned & Dethroned was their attempt at an ‘acoustic’ set. Or relatively acoustic, at least: they realised pretty quickly that these simple songs asked for embellishment. But that simplicity is no deal breaker, and there’s a very real case for this being the Mary Chain’s strongest collection of songs since their debut, Psychocandy. They always had a knack for wringing something new out of the same three chords, and on Stoned & Dethroned they do this by letting the loveliness of their melodies really shine, while guest vocal turns by Hope Sandoval and Shane MacGowan help with the air of longing, lassitude and loucheness. Some of the most compelling moments here are when they fully give into the classic signs of rock’n’roll, like the giddy grind of “Come On,” or the gentle sweetness of “Feeling Lucky.” They’re pop’s greatest miniaturists.