My Top 1000 Songs #289: Sometimes Always

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

Sure, most of my favorite Jesus & Mary Chain songs bring the big noise. But I still adore 1994's Stoned & Dethroned, where they stripped out the trademark feedback & distortion and replaced it with wholesome jangle. And the highlight of that lovely record is "Sometimes Always," a totally endearing post-break-up song featuring Jim Reid trading vocal lines with Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star (apparently at the time the paramour of Jim's brother William, who wrote the song). Yeah, it's wicked cute, Sandoval bemoaning the guy who done her wrong but giving him just one more chance, her girlish vocals removed from their standard Mazzy Star gauzy dream-pop context, rendered sugar-sweet and playful. But sometimes cute slays.

Live on MTV, 1994:

Live in 2012, featuring actress Jessica Paré (of Mad Men) on vocals: