at a glance...

Hometown: Glasgow, Scotland
Year Formed: 1985

Musicians:
Kevin Shields -guitar on "Message Personnel"
Duncan Mackay -trumpet on "Mo' Pop"
Bobby Gillespie -vocals
Robert Young -guitars
Gary "Mani" Mounfield -bass
Marco Nelson -bass
Andrew Innes -guitars, keyboards, effects
Martin Duffy -keyboards
Darrin Mooney -drums
Bernard Sumner -guitars

Bands in the Family:
The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Stone Roses, Dot Allison, Sabres of Paradise, The Orb, Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart, PIL, My Bloody Valentine, Paul Weller, Leftfield, New Order, Can, Dr. Octagon, Handsome Boy Modeling School, David Holmes, Two Lone Swordsmen, Death In Vegas

Notes:
Primal Scream singer/founder Bobby Gillespie got his start as stand-up drummer for The Jesus and Mary Chain, but split from the Reid brothers when they parted ways with Creation Records, the fledgling label started by Gillespie's friend Alan McGee. Primal Scream began as a jangly, slightly psychedelic guitar group whose ultra-melodic "Velocity Girl" single and subsequent Sonic Flower Groove LP made slight waves on the British indie scene. The band quickly evolved into something heavier on the Stooges/MC 5-inspired Primal Scream LP, before Andrew Weatherall remixed the Stax ballad "I'm Losing More Than I'll Ever Have" into "Loaded" and the group's legendary dance-rock cross-pollination period began. Screamadelica inspired dozens of terrible bands to get danceadelic, and the band reacted with the retro-Stones pastiche of Give Out But Don't Give Up in 1994. Despite being an entirely enjoyable Black Crowes album, the record's reviews and escalating drug habits almost killed the band before they resurfaced in experimental mode with the "Trainspotting" and "The Big Man and the Scream Team Meet the Barmy Army Uptown" singles. Reinvigorated and with an inspired Innes at the production wheels, the Scream released the metallic dub rock opus Vanishing Point on an unsuspecting world in 1997 to rave reviews. The band never broke stride in the studio, releasing a dub remix album (Echo Dek) and quickly recording a number of tracks that would eventually make it onto their second masterpiece, Exterminator. Exterminator was the last album released on Creation Records, which folded with the departure of Alan McGee in early 2000.

The opposing muses of Krautrock repetition and formless free jazz extremism threaten to tear this record apart, but the Scream (and a host of genius collaborators, including Kevin Shields, the Automator, David Holmes and the Chemical Brothers) manage to find common ground in the revolutionary spirit of both. And revolution is definitely on the agenda: Bobby Gillespie's always righteous sloganeering takes a turn for the political on "Swastika Eyes" and the title track in particular. While the politics on display are predictably unfocused, they're a perfect fit for the scattergun aggression of the music.

"Exterminator," and "Kill All Hippies" are monstrous, raw grooves, as punishing and urgent as any music you've ever heard. "Swastika Eyes" makes two appearances, with Jagz Kooner's bass-heavy mix making the Chemical Brothers' Age-Of-Lovey trance version sound like an afterthought. "Blood Money" and Shields' MBVArkestra reworking of "If They Move, Kill 'Em" are both visceral, punkified Bitches Brews, and closer "Shoot Speed/Kill Light" has a dark beauty more than a little reminiscent of Joy Division (Bernard Sumner actually plays the track's guitar line). "Pills" even features Bobby's first rap. OK, so that wasn't such a good idea. But you can't say they were afraid to try.

Even in the midst of all this thrilling eclecticism, "Acclerator" is a shocker. The band are in MC5 mode, and Kevin Shields is feeding them into a wood chipper. Almost no semblance of rhythm survives, the melody melts in a cauldron of distortion, and Bobby howls like he's being thrown into a volcano and loving every minute of it. It will peel the paint from your walls. It's fantastic.

These are the kind of thrills we should demand from every band. You'll always remember the first time you heard this album -- might as well make it soon.

If you like Primal Scream, check out:

Primal Scream Vanishing Point
Public Image Limited Metal Box
MC5 Kick Out the Jams
My Bloody Valentine Loveless
Spiritualized Pure Phase
The Chemical Brothers Dig Your Own Hole
Joy Division Unknown Pleasures

-- jf

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