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"The Jesus and Mary Chain (henceforth “JAMC”) was the musical project of Jim and William Reid, who were (a) Scottish, (b) brothers, and (c) the foremost technological and scientific innovators of the modern rock era. Before they came along, many people still assumed that in order to make aggressive, energetic noises, the members of rock bands had to actually move around, do guitar windmills, and look engaged. The JAMC did not like this situation, because those poses tended to be either uncool or boring, and often made one look like a complete twat."
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"Liverpool, of course, is now best known as the home of The Beatles. However, it is also a city where other things happen, and I don't see another reference to them in the song. The other reference that is in the song is to a "hunchback," since the best-known church-bell ringer is Quasimodo, the fictioanl Hunchback of Notre Dame (and if someone can explain to me why a college with the French name of "Notre Dame" ["Our Lady," i.e. the Virgin Mary] is home to the Fightin' Irish and not the Fightin' French, I'd be much obliged, as I've always wondered.) Not that it is relevant to the song... in which a church-bell ringer appears prominently. The song, because of that bell-ringer, is one of Vega's most enigmatic. So we will leave the bell-ringer aside for a moment"
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"It would be difficult for me to imagine liking this record any more than I actually do right at this very moment. Call me a sentimental old Susan, but whenever I hear a guitar getting overloaded and strangled to the point where it begins screaming in tortured agony, all I hear is the most sublime, beautiful noise. As it was with The Jesus And Mary Chain and, more pertinently, the deeply wonderful Flying Saucer Attack, so it is with The Radio Dept. As for the song, it sounds to me like someone’s had a barney with their squeeze and has retreated to a nearby barn to make a noise like a backfiring combine harvester while griping away about how she doesn’t understand him. This is, in all honesty, heroic behaviour and actually the only real reason there is to listen to pop music in the first place. If it weren’t for infuriating partners we’d all have to pack up and go home as there’d be nothing left to say. Luckily, the world is full of them, so there’s no danger on that score. Anyhow, imagine ‘Why Won’t You Talk About It?’ as a sturdy tin bucket and picture the squalling feedback and dreamily melodic – although barely there – vocals slopping about inside. Watch it, some’s going over the edge! Now imagine tipping the whole lot over your own head and feeling the contents cover you completely. Feels good, yes? What do you mean, no? Are you some sort of pervert? The Radio Dept, from Malmo if you’re interested, are the sort of band who you wish you were in as soon as you hear them, which is a good start. That the other four tracks on this single are as good as the first makes me want to expire with joy."
