In anticipation of the release of their excellent new album, More Light, I thought I would write about one of my favourite unappreciated groups, Primal Scream. Now entering their fourth (!) decade as a band, they have been largely ignored in North America and often reviled in the UK as either vapid bar band revivalists or drugged-out electro-anarchist poseurs. Their discography is wildly uneven with some of the best albums of the last few decades and some of the worst. Their live performances are equally uneven. I have seen them twice, in 2000 and 2008, and it was like seeing two completely different bands. I hope I can help shine a light on the world of Primal Scream by providing a bit of background, some choice albums and a few notable collaborators. The Scream have a fascinating career and discography that lie undiscovered by many music fans.
A Bit of Background
The Scream were originally formed in Glasgow in 1982, influenced by the jangle-pop of The Byrds and the post-punk grooves of Public Image and New Order. At this time, the core members of the group, Bobby Gillespie, Robert Young and Andrew Innes came together. Gillespie and Innes are the only constant in Primal Scream's ever-changing line-up. Singer Bobby Gillespie was a punk who had dropped out of school at age 15 to work at a factory. Gillespie's father was a politically active labour organizer and this influence led to the socially conscious, provocative lyrics that characterize much of Primal Scream's later work. Gillespie was also the original drummer for The Jesus and Mary Chain but left that role to concentrate on the Scream full time. Their early work achieved little mainstream success and was often lumped in with the C86 indie-pop movement of the mid 1980s. Their first two records, Sonic Flower Groove and Primal Scream, did not make a significant impact and are still largely unavailable. Their critical and commercial breakthrough was 1991s Screamadelica, which leads us to our next section.
Some Choice Albums
Screamadelica (1991) - This album is a good starting point for the Scream and one of the key records of the rave era. Here the Scream combined Rolling Stones grooves, cutting-edge (for the time) electronic production and a pleasingly warm, spaced-out vibe to create their first classic album. The opener "Movin' on up" has proven to be one of their most enduring tracks and while being a brilliant song, set the precedent for some of their worst, Rolling Stones-imitating music. The track "Loaded", their first major hit, cemented the notion of Primal Scream as a drug band while introducing a common trend of the band re-contextualizing their older music as it was a remix of the track "I'm Losing More than I'll Ever Have" from 1989s Primal Scream. Production from Andrew Weatherall and the Orb helped to add electronic elements that were new to the band at the time but that they would come back to throughout their career. The album won the first-ever Mercury Prize in 1992 and the band toured the album in full for its twentieth anniversary in 2011.
Vanishing Point (1997) - This was their second great album, following the terrible Give Out but Don't Give Up from 1994 which spawned their biggest hit, "Rocks". They countered the dull revivalism of that previous album by making their strangest album to date, combining dub, hard rock and psychedelia. The album is named after the 1971 car film of the same name. The excellent, propulsive first single "Kowalski" is named after the largely silent but free-spirited hero of the film and has extensive samples from the film. The lengthy, hypnotic track "Trainspotting" was used in the film of the same name. This album also spawned the very solid dub remix album Echodek.
XTRMNTR (2000) - The record that led me to become a Primal Scream fan is, in my opinion, one of the most powerful and significant albums of the last twenty years. This album has a punishing, challenging songs and is their first to have overtly political lyrics. The anti-capitalist, anti-authoritarian lyrics are often stream of consciousness but the intent is always clear. This new attitude is best exemplified by first single "Swastika Eyes", which uses a catchy melody and a heavy house beat to criticize Britain's authoritarian tendencies. Profanity-laden track "Pills" likens the artifice of politics to drug-fuelled sickness and paranoia. Elsewhere, the Scream explore avant-jazz ("Blood Money") and motorik grooves (Bernard Sumner collaboration "Shoot Speed/Kill Light"). The most aggressive tracks are Kevin Shields' remix of "If They Move, Kill 'Em" from Vanishing Point, renamed "MBV Arkestra" and his mix of "Accelerator", a straight-up rock track pushed past the breaking point.
More Light (2013) - Their current album and one of the best albums of the last few years. It is their most lengthy album and the extra breathing room allows them to explore ideas fully and let the grooves develop. Working with producer David Holmes allowed them to create their most lush and focused album to date with big arrangements and subtle details that give the album a widescreen appeal. Opening track "2013" is a state of the nation manifesto that sees them reengaging with the political, socially conscious themes that they had largely left behind for the previous decade. This socially conscious message is pervasive throughout the album, especially in tracks like "River of Pain", "Tenement Kid" and "Sideman". Overall, this album has Gillespie's most emotional and direct lyrics to date. The closing track is a surprisingly effective rewrite of "Movin' on up" called "It's Alright, It's OK" that manages to leave this occasionally quite dark album with a hopeful feeling. For more about the process and intent of the album, I recommend this excellent interview with Gillespie from the Quietus.
A Few Notable Collaborators
Primal Scream have worked with many of the biggest names in popular culture, from George Clinton to William S. Burroughs to Kate Moss, some more successfully than others. Here are a few that led to some of their best music.
Gary "Mani" Mounfield - The former Stone Roses bassist worked with the Scream from 1997 to 2011. In the Stone Roses, he helped define the "Madchester" sound with his thick, slippery bass lines. His first collaboration with the Scream, "Kowalski", utilized his style to create a darker, groovier sound that would characterize much of the Scream's work after this point. His bass lines defined great tracks such as "Exterminator", "Swastika Eyes", "Miss Lucifer" and "Uptown". Though he left the band after the Screamadelica tour, his influence is still felt on More Light.
Kevin Shields - As the creative force behind My Bloody Valentine, he helped to redefine the boundaries of what the guitar can do. On "MBV Arkestra" and "Accelerator", he brought the intense and aggressive sound of XTRMNTR to a different level with his mixing and guitar squalls. He toured with the band on and off for the next few years though in a live setting it was not always clear what he was doing and he often appeared sleepy or sedated. He has also contributed to a number of great Primal Scream tracks over the years, including "Deep Hit of Morning Sun" and "2013".
Robert Plant - The legendary Led Zeppelin vocalist was originally recruited through shopping at the same grocery store as Andrew Innes. He first appeared playing harmonica on "The Lord Is My Shotgun" from 2003. Gillespie recruited him for their new album, More Light, as Gillespie felt Plant was the element that was missing from the track "Elimination Blues". His distinctive melancholy wail adds an element that makes what could have been an average quality blues jam into a classic Scream song.
