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The Jesus and Mary Chain: Crash And Burn

Nick Hasted, Uncut, August 2000

FEBRUARY 2000. Seventeen months after the corpse of The Jesus And Mary Chain finally stopped twitching. In the claustrophobic interior of London's 12-Bar Club, a jostling, short-tempered crowd watch as William Reid – the most notoriously fucked-up half of that band – steps onto the tiny stage with an acoustic guitar, in the first full solo gig of his life. He starts to play, to sing – but nothing comes out. It's like a stutter, everything in him trapped by nerves, everything he once knew lost. Then he strikes a chord, and he's back.

Total word count of piece: 2742

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