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Locate, subvert, Exterminate
Primal Scream's War on Authority
After being without an American label for the past three years, Primal
Scream return with a vengeance on Exterminator, their first album for
Astraiwerks. But that doesn't mean that the band are returning to the
dub-dosed electronica of 1991's Screamadelica. There still may be a
party going on, but Primal Scream aren't popping Ecstasy and donning
silly hats. Instead, the band have fanned their banked aggression, and
turned out a raw, righteously angry condemnation of the British
political system and apathy in general.
It's a rarity for a hand to refuel this late in their career, but the
Primals' sixth album is a revelation to both the band and to their fans.
In the past two years, the Primals have been reborn with the addition of
former Stone Roses bassist Gary "Mani" Mounfield showing that h~not Ian
Brown-is the Resurrection. Besides the permanent addition of Mounfield,
My Bloody Valentine's spiritual leader Kevin Shields not only guests on
Exterminator, he's signed on to play guitar on Primal Scream's current
American tour.
The last time Primal Scream appeared in the U.S. was during their
drug-drenched sojourn supporting Depeche Mode. The 1994 Devotional Tour
wreaked psychic damage on both bands, sending Depeche singer David Gahan
to the brink of suicide-something he almost succeeded at two years
later. While Primals frontman Bobby Gillespie is hardly walking the
straight and narrow path, he seems to burn with a brighter incandescence
and a sense of purpose than he ever did before. Whether he's joining
forces with Asian Dub Foundation to raise funds to help free political
prisoner Satpal Ram or worrying about the fate of 30,000 miners who were
made redundant when mines were shut down in northern England, Gillespie
is offering his help and participating in demonstrations.
The bone-thin singer claims he's always been politically motivated, but
recently he's channeled that bristling anger into his music. "We were
always angry, but because we were young guys trying to find our way as
musicians and songwriters, it didn't come to the forefront," he explains
in a thick Scottish accent. "It takes a long time to find a voice, and
during the last two albums, I think we did. We've always had these
beliefs; that's why we got into punk rock."
Inspired by the rage of the then-johnny Rotten and the Sex Pistols,
Gillespie says much of the motivation for what he's trying to accomplish
is best summed up by an interview Lydon did for the Sex Pistols'
documentary The Filth And The Fur~ "'You don't write a song like "God
Save The Queen" because you hate English people. You write the song
because you love English people and you hate the way they've been
treated.' I got that immediately; it was beautiful, and he's right.
That's where all the anger was coming from." -Jaan Uhelszki
Originally appeared in Alternative Press July 00
Copyright © Alternative Press.
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