Primitives, The - Spin-O-Rama (10th Anniversary Reissue)

When THE PRIMITIVES got back together in 2009 to pay tribute to their late bass player, Steve Dullaghan, that new story that everyone had been dreaming of began. Those of us who were fans of their first three albums, written between the late eighties and the early nineties, couldn’t believe that we would get to see them perform again, and that we would get to enjoy new releases from Tracy Tracy’s band. For Elefant, it was unforgettable that the band itself chose us to release their new songs for the whole world; they were one of the most important groups in our lives and that’s why we want to celebrate the tenth anniversary of “Spin-O-Rama” with a very special release.

It's special because it will include three extra tracks – the two B-sides of the two singles that came out before the album was released (the cover version of “Up So High” from THE WHAT’S NEW and “Always Coming Back”) and an acoustic, previously unreleased version of the title track, “Spin-O-Rama”. But it doesn’t stop there! The cover of this new vinyl edition will have different colors than the original. The album that came out in 2014 had different album cover colors for the CD and LP, and for this rerelease we are recovering the original red tones of the CD, and the vinyl will of course be red. How wonderful to be able to enjoy THE PRIMITIVES’ songs again on such a special release.

Original promotional text:

We’ve been talking about it for a while now, and actually, we’ve even been able to get a little taste with the two advance singles, but now it is really happening: THE PRIMITIVES have a new album, and this time, it’s completely new material, which they’ve been letting us in on bit by bit. Time hasn’t passed for this group, whose sound is just as fresh as ever and whose contagious melodies take us back to the end of the eighties, beginning of the nineties, when they released such renowned albums as “Lovely”, “Pure”, and “Galore”.

“Spin-O-Rama” was one of the songs they gave us a preview of with the limited-edition 7” single. It has a perfect arpeggio suggestive of classic THE STONE ROSES, an infectious verse that sounds like a playground song set to BOBBY FULLER FOUR rhythm track, and Tracy Tracy giving us a marvelous, soaring chorus over a wall of snarling guitar. “Hidden In The Shadows” is a high-voltage Brit-pop punker along the lines of THE BUZZCOCKS and GENERATION X. “Wednesday World” continues in the English tradition, but this time focused in the psychedelic pop of the sixties, somewhere between Billy Nichols and THE KINKS, letting aromas of LOVE come through every now and then, with those prodigious bass lines, and the trot of the drums. “Follow The Sun Down” keeps us in the same period, but this time with a more twangy rhythm ‘n blues line, with hints of Nancy Sinatra and THE CREATION, plus a hypnotic and addictive riff that perfectly recreates the ambiance of the time. “Purifying Tone” establishes a new connection between the two periods, with Paul Court reminding us of the dreamier side of THE VELVET UNDERGROUND or THE STONE ROSES’ first songs. The chorus takes us to the sky and back with those delicious harmonies and that wavering tremolo that gives an outer-spacey touch to a far out song.

"Lose The Reason" was the other song we got to hear in advance, again at full-throttle, with Paul and Tracy having a magical vocal duel that settles into another unforgettable chorus. “Petals”unleashes their most pop-punk spirit, bringing them close to those bands from the C86 movementwe love so much, like THE SHOP ASSISTANTS and our wonderful TALULAH GOSH. “Working Isn’tWorking” is a new return to the sixties through fuzzified folk, but with that pop innocence so typical of a band like THE MAGNETIC FIELDS. It is a continuous dialogue between two periods in which the melodies were crucial, when they made a song, but without pushing the electricity or intensity aside. “Velvet Valley” is a sweet moment, a curiosity without lyrics. With the insistence of thestructure and crunchy guitar it may very well be a small homage to Lou Reed. The constant noise, and that incomparable attention to the most exquisite melodies give this track the feeling of a fuzz drenched HOLLIES. “Dandelion Seed” floats close to THE CHARLATANS and TEENAGE FANCLUB. Its powerful bass line and rabid guitar bringing us near to the end of the ride with a spirited slab of chiming psychedelic pop.

It is an urgent album, and it goes by in a heartbeat, putting us in “the-album-you-want-to-listen-to-again-as-soon-as-it-ends” situation, and getting the songs stuck in our head for months. THE PRIMITIVES in full form.