The Primitives are back with their first new music since 2014 album Spin-O-Rama.
Now signed to Madrid-based Elefant Records, the band have been riding a wave of nostalgia since their 2009 reunion.
Released ahead of upcoming UK live dates, New Thrills is a four-track EP, which is packaged in an appropriately retro 10” vinyl maxi-single format.
Lead track I’ll Trust The Wind (see video below), bears all the typical Primitives hallmarks, merging ’60s girl group bubblegum pop, with darker influences like The Velvet Underground.
Opening with a burst of chiming guitars, and with a melody not unlike The Fall‘s C.R.E.E.P, it’s the sound of a band revitalised.
Track Two Squeak ‘n’ Squawk shows the band’s gift for a barbed lyric as Tracy Tracy slaps down an annoying bigmouth: “I wish that I could find the time to give less time to you”.
Flip over to the B-side and Oh Honey Sweet sees guitarist Paul Court taking on lead vocal duties for a sweetly crooned love song.
It’s a neat change of pace, highlighted by Tracy’s harmonies and the same jangly Byrds-like guitars that had the likes of Morrissey swooning in their ’80s heyday.
The final offering Same Stuff is perhaps the most interesting of the lot.
Opening with an almost Japanese-influenced guitar sound, the song morphs into a psych-tinged, surf anthem, accented by artful time changes.
In an interview with EP last year, Court indicated that The Primitives would not be releasing any more albums.
But could they be persuaded otherwise? Certainly New Thrills shows they’ve still got plenty of fresh ideas in the locker.
- New Thrills is out now as a limited edition 10” vinyl (1,000 copies) from Elefant UK
- The Primitives play 229 London on May 26 and Manchester Academy on May 27, For full details visit their Facebook page @ThePrimitivesOfiicial
