Primal Scream - Dirty Hits. (CD Review)

[Screaming Lord Byron]

There's a lot wrong with Primal Scream. They take themselves insanely seriously, they have a Spinal Tap-esque inability to keep drummers, they take way too many drugs, and yes, Bobby Gillespie can't really sing.
What's shocking then is how great the music on Dirty Hits, their recent singles collection is. It's a bit of a cheat, of course, as it starts on the third album (although, anyone who has sat through the Scream's first two albums will sympathise) and unfairly excises singles the band no longer rates. This CD documents a life of dance hedonism, from Apollonian abandon (the Screamadelica singles) through Dionysian excess (the Give Out But Don't Give Up era) through a painful comedown (Vanishing Point) to a re-connection with and righteous political anger at un unfair society (xtrmntr, Evil Heat).
The first four songs cover the Primals Golden Age, Screamadelica. The most enduring record of the first flowering of UK dance culture, Screamadelica is represented by the dancefloor Stones of Loaded, the Jesse Jackson sampling 'Come Together' the ecstatic gospel of Movin' On Up' and what is possibly the greatest single of the early nineties 'Higher Than The Sun'. 'Higher...' which could easily be considered cutting edge today takes the sonic palette of Pet Sounds to the Ambient soundscapes of The Orb in what remains a breathtaking piece.

The next period of Dirty Hits covers the band's brave but failed attempt to pay homage to their influences with the help of legendary producer Tom Dowd, the Memphis Horns and the Mussel Shoals rhythm section. A major wrench from the club abandon of Screamadelica, the singles from 'Give Out But Don't Give Up' have not endured well. While Rocks maintains a twin-guitar momentum, it too obviously apes the classic-period Rolling Stones, as does Jailbird. Cry Myself Blind is more effective, an updating of 'A Nod's As Good As A Wink' Faces era balladry.

The comeback comes with the comedown. Kowalski is a marvellously effective soundclash based around new bassist Mani's Rickenbacker drive which relaunched Vanishing Point era Primal Scream as a darker, dubbier outfit. Burning Wheel combines this with the dark side of sixties psychedelia in a lugubrious drawl.

As Primal Scream awoke from their narcotic numbness, their music grew to absorb Giorgio Moroder, Can and Kraftwerk influences, which would be pushed to the fore on their third great album, 'Xtrmntr'. Swastika Eyes remains a great driving motorik beat-laden sonic assault, perhaps the Scream Team's greatest single achievement. Shoot Speed Kill Light announces the arrival of guitarist Kevin Shields, an escapee from the defunct My Bloody Valentine. Inchoate walls of noise envelop a strong melodic pattern in a seriously effective work.

Late Period Primal Scream builds on this solid base with a more beat-driven direction, as demonstrated on Miss Lucifer and their cover of Some Velvet Morning. Morning manages to prove the Scream's strong melodic ability and production values while also demonstrating that no one should ever let Kate Moss near a microphone.

All in all, despite their flaws, Primal Scream have proven their worth as innovators and as a great pop group.

You can hear samples of their work here.
http://www.primalscream.net/single_frame.html

[Loonman]

1. "There's a lot wrong with Primal Scream."

You got that right.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

2. Y'know, yours will probably be the only response to this post, Loonman.

This post was a waste of sixteen minutes of my life!

[TheBlob]

3. Primal Scream

I was a HUGE fan of these guys circa 1987.
Sonic Flower Groove is a great album.

But then they lost me with all the dance stuff.
Can't believe they're still around.

[mitchum]

4. My wife always called them "Karaoke Stones"...

but I liked them better than she did.