Primal Scream
Chaosmosis
First International
2016
$hit… asked to review Primal Scream’s latest album; I do have a bit of a problem… Primal Scream are basically a pop/rock band, but screw me and themselves if they can be placed under a certain label/exact genre. They’ve been electronic(a), pop, somewhat rock, dance, indie… you name it… not bad for a Scottish band that came out of the new wave, but really came out quite different and really unfit to be categorized. They really happened in the early mid-90s, although they’ve kept on going, past that…
“Chaosmosis” manages to “work” on a large part due to its mood “swings”… “Trippin’ on Your Love” has a 60s air and a poppy appeal, but feels quite superficial, despite a nice enough chorus.
“(Feeling Like A) Demon Again” is a danceable, pop song with a nice beat and the typical lazy Gillespie vocal until a nice chorus hits quite late into the song…
“I Can Change” laments a broken relationship over some smooth electronica, while the band even is brave enough to leave most of its electronics aside for the tender but hurt “Private Wars”… while “Where the Light Gets In” sees the band collaborating with Sky Ferreira in a pop electrocker that works well as a single, but I sort of found the broken down almost industrial feel “When the Blackout Meets the Fallout” a lot more interesting, while the acid pop of “Carnival of Fools” based on a very minimal idea, is also quite endearing… well with most of the songs on the album working well, on their given level, it’s far from being the band’s best effort, but for a band to be able to engage on this level three plus decades and ten plus albums into their career, is quite cool. If you’re open minded enough to listen to a pop album, the minimal hazy and somewhat acid world of “Chaosmosis” should have no problem to suck you in.
“Chaosmosis” manages to “work” on a large part due to its mood “swings”… “Trippin’ on Your Love” has a 60s air and a poppy appeal, but feels quite superficial, despite a nice enough chorus.
“(Feeling Like A) Demon Again” is a danceable, pop song with a nice beat and the typical lazy Gillespie vocal until a nice chorus hits quite late into the song…
“I Can Change” laments a broken relationship over some smooth electronica, while the band even is brave enough to leave most of its electronics aside for the tender but hurt “Private Wars”… while “Where the Light Gets In” sees the band collaborating with Sky Ferreira in a pop electrocker that works well as a single, but I sort of found the broken down almost industrial feel “When the Blackout Meets the Fallout” a lot more interesting, while the acid pop of “Carnival of Fools” based on a very minimal idea, is also quite endearing… well with most of the songs on the album working well, on their given level, it’s far from being the band’s best effort, but for a band to be able to engage on this level three plus decades and ten plus albums into their career, is quite cool. If you’re open minded enough to listen to a pop album, the minimal hazy and somewhat acid world of “Chaosmosis” should have no problem to suck you in.