The core fraternal duo behind the Jesus and Mary Chain is releasing a new memoir called Never Understood. The book due out on August 15 is currently available for pre-order through the band's website.
Brothers Jim and William Reid penned the memoir with help from author Ben Thompson. It's named after the Scottish alternative rock group's second single from 1985.
The memoir is described as 'a wildly funny and improbably moving chronicle of brotherly strife, feedback, riots, drug and alcohol addiction, eternal outsiders and extreme shyness.'
The band announced the release date in a Friday, March 1 Instagram post which included a description of the memoir.
"William and Jim tell the full story of one of Britain’s greatest guitar bands for the very first time – a wildly funny and improbably moving chronicle of brotherly strife, feedback, riots, drug and alcohol addiction, eternal outsiders and extreme shyness, that also somehow manages to be a love letter to the Scottish working-class family," the post says.
There's more information available on publisher White Rabbit's website.
"For five years after they’d swapped sought-after apprenticeships for life on the dole, brothers William and Jim Reid sat up till the early hours in the front room of their parents’ East Kilbride council house, plotting their path to world domination over endless cups of tea, with the music turned down low so as not to wake their sleeping sister," the blurb says.
"They knew they couldn’t play in the same band because they’d argue too much, so they’d describe their dream ensembles to each other until finally they realised that these two perfect bands were actually the same band, and the name of that band was The Jesus and Mary Chain."
Jim spoke about the memoir during an interview with NME published late last month.
"It’s just us talking to Ben Thompson," he said. "We just told him our story and he’s editing it all together. It’s just us jabbering on about us as usual. There are a few amusing anecdotes, I guess. If you’re interested in the Mary Chain I’m sure it’ll make good reading."
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The book will follow the band's upcoming album 'Glasgow Eyes,' which is due out on Friday, March 8.
The memoir will follow the release of the Jesus and Mary Chain's upcoming album Glasgow Eyes, which is due out on Friday, March 8.
The band's latest single "Girl 71" came out on Feb. 22. It follows "jamcod," which was released on Nov. 29, and "Chemical Animal," which came out on Jan. 18.
Glasgow Eyes will be the band's first studio LP since 2017's Damage and Joy, which made it to No. 16 on the U.K. albums chart.
The Jesus and Mary Chain will tour the U.K. and Europe in support of the new record later this year. They'll start in Manchester on March 22 and end in The Hague, Netherlands, on April 24.
Their most recent single "Girl 71" came out on Feb. 22.
Check out a full list of the upcoming tour dates below:
March
22 – UK, Manchester, Albert Hall
25 – Ireland, Dublin, Olympia
26 – UK, Belfast, Limelight 1
27 – UK, Edinburgh, Usher Hall 30 – UK, London, Roundhouse
April
2 – Denmark, Copenhagen, Amager Bio
3 – Sweden, Gothenburg, Pustervik
5 – Norway, Oslo, Rockefeller
6 – Sweden, Stockholm, Munich Brewery
7 – Sweden, Malmo, Plan B
9 – Germany, Hamburg, Markthalle
11 – Germany, Berlin, Huxleys
12 – Germany, Cologne, Live Music Hall
13 – France, Paris, Elysée Montmartre
15 – Switzerland, Geneva, L’Usine
16 – Switzerland, Winterthur, Salzhaus
17 – Italy, Milan, Alcatraz
19 – Austria, Krems, Donaufestival
20 – Germany, Heidelberg, Halle O2
21 – Netherlands, Tilburg, Roadburn Festival
23 – Belgium, Brussels, AB
24 – Netherlands, The Hague, Paard
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