Primal Scream – “Beautiful Future”
(from Beautiful Future)
Bobby Gillespie is a knob. There’s no point in beating around the bush here. Primal Scream may be responsible for a handful of the most exciting, revolutionary records I’ve heard in the last 20 years, but that still doesn’t change the fact that the drivel that spills from Gillespie’s lips may very well be the most cringe-worthy, grimace-inducing collection of lyrics this side of Kid Rock. Case in point: the Top 5 Most Idiotic Lines From “Beautiful Future,” the title track to the new Primal Scream record:
5. “Take a ride in the city, tell me what they see –empty houses, burning cars, naked bodies hanging from the trees”
4. “You live by the sword, you die by the sword, you’re only free to buy the things you can’t afford”
3. “Uh-oh, you live in a dream, in the dead heart of the control machine”
2. “Don’t say what you’re thinking, just think before you say, if you say the wrong thing, the Man is gonna come and take you away”
1. “We got a noose if you wanna hang around”
Oof. That was painful. But you know what, despite the hollowness of his anti-capitalist rants, which carry all the emotional depth and insight of an angsty high school student’s private journal, I have a hard time writing off Gillespie entirely. Most rock lyrics are fairly stupid if you think about it; Gillespie’s just happen to come from a particularly potent breed of stupid.
At least he has presence. “Beautiful Future” is, rather unexpectedly, a magnificent pop song. Mani and Mooney knock out a jubilant rhythm over clanging bells and foamy waves of synths, while Andrew Innes is happy to chop away at his derivative, spiky guitar parts (do I detect a hint of Steppenwolf?). Paul Epworth, who has also produced Bloc Party and Kate Nash, covers the whole song with a sugary sheen, in what may be the most definitive argument yet against the claim that excessive MDMA abuse depletes serotonin levels in the brain. And then there’s Bobby G., slinking into the picture like the deranged and debauched Scotsman that he is, smearing the good times with his dreary pseudo-propagandist blather.
I dunno, I think it works.
The rest of the album has its ups and downs. For your sake, I’ll spare you the details of songs like “Suicide Bomb” and “Zombie Man.” However, lead single “Can’t Go Back” is a right rocker, torn straight from the pages of XTRMNTR (even if it lacks that extra punch offered by Kevin Shields on “Accelerator”) and the upbeat “Glory of Love” is another great little single that manages, in its own weird way, to simultaneously tap into the optimism of Huey Lewis & The News’ “Power of Love” and Lou Reed’s “Coney Island Baby.”
“Can’t Go Back” – Bobby G. murdering models in a mansion???
In all, there are about 3.5, mmmaybe 4 decent songs on Beautiful Future sure to appease longtime fans eager for a return to form after the disastrous Riot City Blues of 2006. And, true to form, the Scream Team has once again assembled an ace cast of guest producers and musicians to make sure they remain relevant, with this album featuring most prominently Peter Bjorn and John’s Bjorn Yttling, Cansei de Ser Sexy’s Lovefoxxx, Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme, and British folk legend Linda Thompson (on a truly unnecessary cover of the Fleetwood Mac tune “Over & Over”). After all, if you can’t always look to Primal Scream for traces of brilliance, if you pour enough ingredients into the pot, you can at least come away with something explosive once in a while.
2 Comments
I bet you think your smarter than most people don’t you? What the name of your last album? I’d love to review it. Ha.
mmmm talk about conceit, You slate the lyrics of a band that have stayed the course over 20 years and write like a egotisitical trainee pop journo on Pims…….go back to stacking shelves brother and face it, any words that are anti capitalist are wothy of a listen. Unlike any of yours.
Still…….you live by the sword!