DIDC: Primal Scream--Screamadelica

Sach O wrote this one coming down off Codeine. Bands that hit a zeitgeist are fucked one way or another. Hang on to your once-cool style and you look like a dinosaur, switch it up and you disappoint your fan base. Primal Scream's response to the changing tides following their era-defining psychedelic masterpiece Screamadelica has been to try every approach under the sun from trad rock (which the critics hated) to increasingly aggressive dance-rock (which the critics sort of liked) and back (by which time no one cared anyways). The one thing they've never tried to do is recreate the sound of Screamadelica, an eventuality, given that the very culture it celebrated shifted and disappeared as the 90's wore on. It’s a shame because while modern critics dutifully applaud the album for fusing electronic and rock music years before it was trendy, celebrating it for its supposed influence misses the point completely. Ask yourself this: for a dance influenced rock album, how many tracks on Screamadelica would sound truly at home in a club? Maybe the one house track could fit in a mix and there's some definite chill-out room ready material but all in all the idea that Primal Scream created some sort of rave rock is grossly exaggerated (that would be The Mondays). I'm not saying that producer Andrew Weatherwall and the band's experiments with samplers weren't groundbreaking for rock music, but what's important is what they expressed through those experiments rather than the sonic results themselves. Mainstream rock was late to the sampling party so I feel no need to praise Scream for being first of the last, but they do deserve credit for making an incredible album ABOUT dance music. Or at least an album about going out, taking drugs, dancing all night and collapsing at home in a wreck. And as much as the killjoys would like to bore us to death with blog-house and minimal techno, the previous sentence /explains 99% of the appeal of dance music for 99% of the population. That the band managed to throw a couple of great Rolling Stones homages into the mix just makes things better. Screamadelica, while not technically a concept album plays less like a DJ set than the soundtrack to a movie about having a great night out. The Jimmy Miller produced "Movin on Up" is a pre-party rock anthem for the ages, featuring bluesy guitar licks and gospel vocals too soulful for a rave album: exactly the sort of thing you'd play on your way to a party. "Step Inside this House" transforms The 13th Floor Elevators classic into a slice of bass heavy funk for the club lineup while "Don't Fight it Feel it" stands as the album's one true dance moment. These songs set the tone for the night, but then the drugs kick in. The album's middle section is sprawling and points towards the album's titular psychedelia rather than anything you’d play out. "Higher than the Sun" and "Inner Flight" are songs that are easy to slag off years after the rave scene’s optimism eroded away. But really, the lyrics and synths are no more naive (and in the long run will sound no more dated) than anything on Animal Collective's acclaimed last album, as they explore the sonic qualities that come to the forefront when one takes way too many pills. The drug euphoria hits its peak on the Jesse Jackson (the fuck?) assisted "Come Together" and the sampling masterpiece "Loaded". While the latter still remains impressive, at the time of its release it was a bombshell for sheltered rock kids, for whom anything not made with a guitar was forbidden. It's still a damn good song, re-arranging the band's previous single "I'm Losing More Than I Ever Have" into a funky 7 minute workout, helping segue the album into more organic territory. Then there's the inevitable comedown. "Damage" is more proof that the critics were overly harsh on Bobby Gillespie for his Stones infatuation as he delivers a Gallagher worthy, Jagger pastiche about losing brain cells. "I'm Coming Down", the epic 2-part, 7 minute reprise of "Higher than the Sun" and the delicate closer "Shine like Stars" complete the narrative effect: the protagonist leaves the party, chills out and eventually crashes in bed as the music slowly fades out to the sound of rolling waves. Thankfully, the concept is kept loose enough to ignore if you choose, and the album succeeds mostly on the merit of some awesome songs and fantastic production. While the idea of rock and dance music as separate is becoming increasingly difficult to imagine, at the time of Screamadelica's release the album could be seen as a love letter from one musical culture to another, a rock album celebrating the good that came out of the rave scene. It isn't faultless: when sober, some moments drag on a bit too long and I'm still trying to figure out what it is the band did on most of these tracks, but complaints aside, it's hard to think of a more natural and interesting musical crossover. Unless Mike Skinner's next album doesn't suck. Download: MP3: Primal Scream-"Movin' On Up" MP3: Primal Scream-"Loaded" (Left-Click)