Synopsis

The Jesus and Mary Chain appear in a fast-moving, vividly colored collage built from performance footage, saturated lighting, star-like flares, distressed lettering, and abrupt graphic images. A woman handling a gun is among the recurring visual elements, while the Reid brothers maintain the band's characteristic detached, unsmiling presence. Rather than following a conventional narrative, the video matches the song's abrasive momentum with a barrage of fleeting images, creating a deliberately disorienting portrait of late-1980s alternative rock attitude.

Factoids & Trivia

• "Blues From A Gun" was released in September 1989 as the lead single from *Automatic*, the band's fourth studio album.

• The song is unusual within the band's catalog because William Reid handles the lead vocal instead of Jim Reid.

• The single reached No. 32 on the UK Singles Chart and spent three weeks at No. 1 on the US Billboard Modern Rock chart.

• The video's dense montage, intense colors, flashing lights, and distressed typography reflect the move toward a more synthetic, programmed sound on *Automatic*, where bass and drums were often created electronically.

• The band's own 30th-anniversary retrospective noted that the "Blues From A Gun" video won no awards, contrasting it with the later Pixies video for "Head On," which did receive an MTV award.