The reunion scene in music these days happens to be dominated by bands from the 1980s, although other decades are threatening to step in. The Police, perhaps the biggest band of the ’80s, took the lead in January when they made a rare appearance at the Grammy Awards, which was followed by rumors of a tour. Genesis announced its resurrection soon afterward, as did Squeeze, the two-hit pop-happy band that was stuck in the middle with us 25 years ago. Representing the 1990s were rap-metal pioneers Rage Against the Machine, who re-formed for California’s Coachella festival in April before setting out on their first tour in seven years. Even Cream, the iconic 1960s power trio and rock’s first “supergroup,” has been making noise about a reunion.

But it seems the lights of retroactive interest are shining brightest on the 1980s. For a small yet religiously devoted contingent spanning the globe, this reunion trend is notable mostly for the returns of lesser-known but no less essential bands that had a vital impact on the development of indie and pop rock, and the cultures that go with them. The Happy Mondays, Dinosaur Jr., and the Jesus and Mary Chain have all recently announced their intentions to plug back in, most without new material to speak of (save for Dinosaur Jr., which released its first new album featuring its original members since 1988 last month). Despite being lumped into the same post-punk/new wave categories, each of the three bands has a distinct sound that pays homage to the seminal music of the late 1970s and, in its original edition, paved the road to the music we have today.

The Jesus and Mary Chain, which returns to New York tonight and tomorrow with two sold-out shows at Webster Hall, essentially created a kind of fusion pop during the first chapter of its career. Formed by the Glaswegian brothers William and Jim Reid in 1984, the band released its first single, “Upside Down,” that same year to rapturous response in Britain. The single toed the edge of dance-pop, but rested its melody on a pounding rhythmic foundation and huge, wonderfully obnoxious guitar feedback.

The band’s early singles weren’t nearly as balanced as those from its first proper album, 1985’s “Psychocandy.” That album’s first single, “You Trip Me Up,” is a dizzying, romantic love song, provided one can stomach the chainsaw effect of the background guitar feedback. “Just Like Honey,” the other major single from the album, tells of a painful reunion with a lovely woman and remains a indie anthem today. The song trumpets with guitars that almost squeal against a marching, synthetic drum beat. For fans of the Magnetic Fields, it sounds like a collaboration between Stephin Merritt and Claudia Gonson, with a female voice repeating the chorus as the song fades out.

It was this combination of screaming guitars, simple lyrics, and new-wave melodies that earned the band immediate comparisons to the Velvet Underground. Indeed, just as the Velvets did as they evolved, the Jesus and Mary Chain cleaned up its sound on its second album, “Darklands,” which even featured an acoustic guitar on the title track. But the band came back hard again with “Automatic” in 1989. The single “Head On” featured sneering vocals in the style (but not the fake mentality) of Billy Idol, and “Blues From a Gun” began with an angry but controlled guitar introduction.

Most fans dote on “Psychocandy” as the band’s immortal moment, but the Jesus and Mary Chain’s later albums, including “Automatic” and 1992’s “Honey Dead,” displayed the band’s talent for creating pure, plainly excellent rock with a new-wave touch and a flare for guitar experimentation. What’s refreshing to know is that the band never suffered the effects of overproduction in its work: It’s almost as if the brothers Reid wouldn’t have allowed such a thing to happen, and that’s what makes the band’s later material just as listenable as “Upside Down” or “Just Like Honey.”

The re-arrival of the Jesus and Mary Chain, which plans to release new material later this year, is a reminder that there were bands — and possibly still are bands — that can ignore the temptations of commercialization in composing music. They can make unsentimental poprock with just enough artfulness to make the music sound both tough and refined.

The Jesus and Mary Chain will perform tonight and tomorrow at Webster Hall (125 E. 11th St., between Third and Fourth avenues, 212-353-1600).