Primal Scream - Going Back to Their Roots

To say that Primal Scream have been around a bit would be an understatement. The 'Scream are pretty much a national institution, they're akin to your favourite Granny, albeit your favourite rock 'n' roll granny whose penchant for excessive rock 'n' roll behaviour is legendary.

They have seen the coming and going of baggy, taken us trippin', pounded us with electronics and now they're returning to a place they've visited before and are set to cleanse our soul, country-style. Latest single Country Girl is a return to the good 'ole stomp-your-feet abandon which the 'Scream first dabbled with on their 1994 album 'Give Out But Don't Give Up'. Back then, through the indie-dancefloor classics Rocks and Jailbird and with the delicately touching Cry Myself Blind, the band revealed a schizophrenic nature to their music, and as such set the trend for an impressively speedy evolution through the aforementioned genres to where we are now.

To chart their rise to this point; back in 1985, an incarnation of the band emerged on Creation records with their debut 'All Fall Down' – quite prophetic a title when considering the number of members that have come and gone since. Fast forward 21 years and one thing has remained constant – a certain enigmatic frontman. Bobby Gillespie, the instantly recognisable driving force behind the band has not only survived the revolving cast and re-inventions but also long-term drug addiction which was beaten only relatively recently. Early Creation efforts hinted at a nod towards melodic guitar-pop before their eponymous 1988 release showed a discernible shift towards tight leather-trousered rock and roll. Between this and the start of the nineties, the 'Scream's journey took the first in a long line of extreme changes of direction with the release of what was to become one of the seminal albums of the ninties and winner of the inaugural Mercury Music Prize – 'Screamadelica'.

The album, which spawned the timeless singles Loaded and Come Together was the band's first experience of Top 20 recognition and was successful enough to allow the boys, with yet another line-up change, to travel across the pond for its follow-up. Their musical direction at this point can be roughly charted against an increased appreciation for the Rolling Stones' bluesy-rock tendencies as, under the guidance of late soul guru, Tom Dowd (Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin), the band created the afore-noted and vastly underrated 'Give Out...'. With the single Rocks going Top 10 in the UK, the band had reached the next level and were becoming a household name.

The inclusion of Mani, from the then recently-defunct Stone Roses, increased their status further and added another dimension to the aesthetic, which became evident on 1997's 'Vanishing Point'. Seemingly shifting back to the 'Screamadelica' days, this darker offering made full use of Mani's infectious basslines and again gave flight to Top 10 singles, most notably the cracking Kowalski. Appearing happy with this direction and with a further, now-standard line-up change, Primal Scream moved forward and explored their electronic side. 2000's 'Xtrmntr', a dark and uncompromising two-fingers to the new millennium's bland music scene was another step away from their guitar-laden early efforts, whilst 2002's 'Evil Heat' saw Gillespie and co. at their obnoxious, uncommercial best.

So the history lesson's over and here we are, with latest long-player 'Riot City Blues' set to take the band back to their country-rock past, and the country by storm; as an absolute return to beauty. Even the song titles are worth the money - Suicide Sally and Johnny Guitar and Dolls (Sweet Rock And Roll) being such examples. Sometimes I Feel So Lonely is 2006's Cry Myself Blind while Nitty Gritty is as stomping a blues number as you'll hear this side of the Mardi Gras. The collective are not alone in their efforts here as cameos by a Bunnyman, a Bad Seed and the female half of the Kills highlight their status as an international treasure.

You've got to hand it to them, they're not subscribers to the 'no-one likes a change' philosophy and even if they are, they don't care. It's this uncompromising attitude which has served them so well and enabled them to produce such varied acts of creative brilliance. Lesser groups would have crumbled under the stress of a rotating-door band member policy, but Gillespie and his formidable leadership has seen the good ship 'Scream negotiate the hostile waters of rock, country, dub, dance and electropunk and emerge stronger than ever and ready to revisit those ports.

For those appreciators of their past 20-odd years work, 'Riot City Blues' will only complete and cement a creative circle without signalling the end of the line for rock's finest chameleons, as such a return to roots might predict. Here's to 20 years more.