Primal Scream - Beautiful Future (CD)

B-unique

September 3, 2008, 10:26 PM

Primal Scream kick off in promising fashion with the imagination-grabbing ‘Beautiful Future.’ The chorus repeatedly insisting that “you’ve got a beautiful future” (complete with celebratory bells) may see ‘Beautiful Future’ walk a fine line between upbeat, and irritatingly upbeat, but beneath the chipper surface lies black-hearted lyrics denouncing a society of materialism, capital punishment and ignorance. Towards the end Primal Scream do test the listener’s patience by repeating the same line approximately thirty times until fade, but ‘Beautiful Future’ is for the most part a bright, sparky tune with some weight behind it. Worth a listen, if only for that moment when you realise just what Bobby Gillespie is singing about, and this song’s Prozac bounce suddenly makes sense.

‘Suicide Bomb’ is equally innovative, featuring pulsing chords and drumbeats that constantly sound as though they’re winding to a halt. Even better, it steadily chugs to a crescendo of insistent vocals and waves of distorted chords, and the bridge is similarly edgy, with seriously-squealing synths that give ‘Suicide Bomb’ that final bite it needs to latch itself onto your memory.

‘Zombie Man’ is an unexpected, clap-your-hands and sing along, gospel-tinged rock song. It’s incredibly catchy, even if it is completely nonsensical (“hey, hey Zombie man / I’m gonna put you in the can.”) It’s so irresistibly lively that when they break out the jazz instruments and lay the gospel-esque backing vocals on thick for the final blowout, it feels like a fittingly over-the-top end, rather than cheese. Undeniably good fun.

If the whole of this album was this varied, then ‘Beautiful Future’ would be a sure-fire winner. Unfortunately, it’s not. There’s a clear line between this handful of songs and the rest of the album, as Primal Scream wallow in a fug for ‘I Love To Hurt (You Love To Be Hurt),’ ‘Beautiful Summer,’ ‘Can’t Go Back’ and ‘The Glory of Love.’ It’s just too much fuzzy atmospherics and distorted riffs for one album, and it all gets a bit tedious.
The best of the bunch is ‘I Love To Hurt….’ which steadily gains momentum, building to an electro-rock, industrial-tinged funk that would be a stand-out track if it wasn’t surrounded by so many similar-sounding songs.

‘Can’t Go Back’ and ‘The Glory of Love’ are also pretty effective steady-burners. ‘Can’t Go Back’ has an irresistible hook of giddy “whooo-ooooh-ooooh” vocals mixed up with dizzy electro beats. Combined with an equally inspired bridge section of rollicking drumbeats and squealing chords, ‘Can’t Go Back’ manages to keep its head above water. Just.

‘The Glory of Love’ brushes with boredom more than once, but is ultimately saved by a combination of twinkling piano notes; fuzzy backing vocals; buzz-saw electro beats and hand-clapping sound effects. It shouldn’t work, but it’s a pleasant surprise that it does.
And then there’s ‘Uptown’ and ‘Beautiful Summer’ which take Primal Scream’s love of low-key numbers a step too far. When the light vocals, incessant but unobtrusive drumbeats and trembling synths are poured on thick, ‘Uptown’ has a pleasantly summery groove, but for the most part it’s a veneer of music, with nothing to really sink your teeth into.

‘Beautiful Summer’ is even worse. Wading through the trudging verses is a thankless chore. Primal Scream do temporarily shake the song up for the chorus, but then it’s back to the plodding verses.

Primal Scream do pull out the stops and conclude matters with the album’s rockiest song: ‘Necro Hex Blues.’ Unfortunately, it’s too little too late, as the memory of too many atmospheric-but-insipid numbers won’t be erased with just one blast of good time rock and roll. While there’s good points to every song, too much of this album is played out at the same trudging pace, and all the songs tend to blur into one. ‘Beautiful Future’ is the sound of someone stumbling around in a daze. Far from exciting stuff.