Bobby Gillespie is always on a quest for the ultimate high, and sometimes it takes him down to the lowest depths of rock'n'roll decadence. But when the Scream get close to the source, as they did on 1991's Screamadelica, then every false move can be forgiven.
Primal Scream's new album, Vanishing Point, doesn't quite hit the same high, but it swirls and spins in a dizzying amalgamation of grooves, chilling out nicely in anticipation of the next rush. It's a welcome return to form after the plodding Give Out But Don't Give Up, and its fluid flavours are open to a million different interpretations. The band played the first of two shows at the SFX on Wednesday, and it was a very different Scream from the acid-funk collective of old. Vocalist Denise Johnson is no longer in the house, and Gillespie is once again to the fore, leading his team forward where once he lagged behind. Mani from The Stone Roses is giving it loads on bass, and the drummer has been ousted by a dubbed-up backbeat which weaves around the SFX like a renegade soundwave. Burning Wheel lights the slow-burning fuse which will make up most of Primal Scream's set, and the sound stays taut and tentative through the strutting Rocks and the gently sparkling Star. It takes a while for the band to get in the groove, but when they dive into Higher Than The Sun, you get a flash of what Gillespie & Co. are trying to achieve. Kowalski finally finds its direction, and Mani's frenetic bass-lines weave nicely between the guitars of Throb and Innes; Gillespie revels in the groove, while footage from David Sarafian's cult film, Vanishing Point, speeds along on the video backdrop. The whole show ends too quickly to really get things moving, and not even a gentlychilled Out Of The Void nor a hip cover of Motorhead can raise this gig above the horizon.
