Primal Scream - Return with their 'Riot City Blues'
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» Primal Scream - HQ, SA - Tue, February 10
» Primal Scream - Metropolis Fremantle, WA - Wed, February 11
It is 8am in Glasgow when I speak to guitarist, Andrew Innes, who has been with the Scream since the mid-eighties, a year or so after the band formed, with one of the founding members, Bobby Gillespie, his childhood friend.
For a moment we discuss what day and time it was in our various home towns, with Andrew telling me how he used to do interviews for Australia at midnight (his time) and how things have changed now that he has a daughter.
With more than 20 years behind them, band Primal Scream have a quite a history – with eight studio albums released since 1987, Best Of compilations – 2003's Dirty Hits and 2004's Shoot Speed (More Dirty Hits), this year sees the band return with their newest creation Riot City Blues.
Laid down live on the studio floor at London's Olympic Studios, their ninth studio album was produced by Martin 'Youth' Glover and features an impressive list of special guests - Will Sergeant from Echo and The Bunnymen, Warren Ellis of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds / The Dirty Three and Alison Mosshart from The Kills.
Unlike previous albums, which since 1991's Screamadelica, saw the band spend months on each record, particularly on remixing or production, Riot City Blues was recorded in 10 days flat, and mixed as quickly by Dave Sardy.
“I think its just more of a traditional guitar record, the way we wrote the songs – verse and a chorus – not abstract like a couple of LPs – although the fans seemed to like Screamadelica (released in 1991) . ...just do different things,” Innes says.
Their first single release from the new album, 'Country Girl' sees the band's highest charting track of their career – entering the UK charts at Number 24, climbing in the second week to Number 5.
When I question Andrew on how he felt about this, he answers simply “Its was great – our highest chart entry.”
Primal Scream staged a comeback show in January 2006 in their hometown of Glasgow, at the King Tut's Wah Wah Hut.
“It was good playing in Glasgow... a good crowd who were up for good music,” he says.
The show featured six new songs that no longer contained the electronic elements of the last three Scream albums, hinting at the band's return to a rockier sound for the new album.
With decades passing since their formation as a group, group dynamics and friendships is an interesting topic.
“Its like a family... times of intense hatred... like brothers and sisters...,” Innes says.
Primal Scream's website, www.primalscream.org, is now featured in The Museum for Applied Arts in Frankfurt - with Andrew describing the old band's website as a “work of art” and “ahead of its time” with its animations and design, now, about six years old.
The band will be playing a number of music festivals – the historic Isle of Wright Festival in June, Spain's Santander Summer Festival later this month, and London's Hyde Park in July with The Who.
What can festival goers expect from Primal Scream's set?
“Hear some good rock and roll – we're all firing!”
