by
Rob Jones
Primal Scream deliver ten tasty tracks on Chaosmosis (their eleventh album). The band display their array of skills as they dip in to several genres. However, the abiding feel of the record is a New Order meets Chemical Brothers dance-rock crossover-and, the reality is that Bobby Gillespie has worked with both of the aforementioned acts.
The summer Suede sounds of opening tune Trippin’ on your Love is perfect pop and the Haim sisters make a contribution here (and later on as well). Next up is the more edgy electro enterprise of (Feeling like a) Demon Again which again can be a killer on the club floors; and, 100% or Nothing chugs along and works its way in to the cerebral with its harmonious hooks. Autumn is Paradise has a mid 80’s Factory Records feel and the musical magpies of Primal Scream turn their apprecation of peers produce in to their own rainbow of rhythm.
Variety is the sonic spice of Primal Scream and they can show a more subtle, softer side and in the forms of I can Change and Carnival of Fools the band successfully shows more pastel shades. There is even a venture in to 60’s psychedelic folk as Private Wars takes us to an acoustic late night pastoral camp fire.
However, the mood can get more brutal and the fury fires on all cylinders as When the blackout meets the Fallout; and, not far behind is Golden Rope which rises to a crescendo before it concludes with its dreamy departure. This is the arena where this band can shine and there are touches of Roxy Music v Psychedelic Furs to coat this colossus. Bobby also leaves his lyrical icing with a closing call of ‘And I know there is something wrong with Me’
However, the highlight of the record is the soaring sumptuous single Where the light gets In as the male vocals of Gillespie wed with the female tones of Sky Ferreira-and, the result is a song that deserves to grace the upper reaches of the chart. Primal Scream are never the same and as younger acts may get the glory just because their age and not talent entitles credit it is patently evident that Primal Scream still sit at the top table of towering tunes.
