ALBUM REVIEW

*** 1/2; THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN, “Stoned & Dethroned” ( American )

The Jesus and Mary Chain has dropped the feedback and distortion, the grinding and the clattering, from its sound. That certainly gets your attention, the way the sudden silencing of a passing airplane would get your attention.

It’s as if the Reid brothers have removed a screen that through five albums obscured the scope of the despair behind their music. These outpourings of self-loathing, desperation and defeat are delivered with a blues-like economy and in a musical setting whose intimacy lures the listener right into their withered heart.

There are exceptions to the prevailing mood, most notably “Sometimes Always,” an oddly charming exchange in which Jim Reid and Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval emerge as the Sonny & Cher of the Prozac generation.

The album’s mainly acoustic, folk-pop music moves the Reids’ unflinching sentiments along at a purposeful stride and retains the emotional tug and soaring majesty the band has trademarked. Desolation hasn’t sounded this beautiful since Joy Division prowled the soul’s darkest corners.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).