Chemikal Underground
2005
Little Pop Rock
About This Album
Sister Vanilla's Little Pop Rock is a Reid family reunion, with William and Jim providing guitars and production along with the occasional lead and backing vocals, and sister Linda (who sang Moe Tucker on the last Jesus and Mary Chain record to date, Munki) on lead vocals. It's a Jesus and Mary Chain reunion too because long-time JAMC member Ben Lurie is on board as well. Unsurprisingly, Little Pop Rock sounds a whole lot like a Jesus and Mary Chain record. One with a low-budget, lo-fi approach, but still very much of a piece with their late-period output. Tracks like the surging "Jamcolas" and "Delicat" have the same machine-driven, rock & roll swagger that tracks like "I Hate Rock & Roll" had, "Slacker"'s a country ballad that would have fit right in on Stoned & Dethroned, "Can't Stop the Rock" is a wonderfully knuckleheaded rock anthem the group specialized in. ("Jamcolas" and "Delicat" also feature lead vocals by William and Jim, with Linda in a supporting role.) While it's nice to have another Mary Chain record, what makes the record even better is the presence of Linda Reid. Her charmingly innocent vocals shine some sweetness and light on the proceedings and make songs like "Pastel Blue," "The Two of Us" (a duet with Stephan Pastel), and "Angel" almost tender, which is not a word that comes to mind when thinking of the Reids.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9 and 10)

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