Primal Scream und Escape-ism

Originally formed with a host of influences ranging from punk rock to new wave, Bobby Gillespie and Jim Beattie first began by banging dustbin lids together and playing fuzz-guitar. Primal Scream’s debut performance came in 1982, however it wasn’t until 1984 the band made their recording debut with the single “The Orchard”, released on school friend Alan McGee's Essential Records. In 1985 Primal Scream signed with Creation Records, however despite a number of single releases, didn’t find success until Gillespie departed his other group the Jesus and the Mary Chain.

With the addition of Andrew Innes and Robert Young, the band found their single “Velocity Girl” end up on an NME cassette tape. The result was huge exposure for the developing band, and they fit the indie pop image like a hand to a glove. The band’s debut album “Sonic Flower Groove”, issued in 1987, was received with critical acclaim, as was is successor the self-titled “Primal Scream” in 1989.

The band's subsequent release saw a move away from the rock and roll aesthetic of the Rolling Stone and the Stooges, and towards the growing electronic and acid house scene. The result was “Loaded” a reworking of the existing song “I’m Losing More Than I’ll Ever Have”, making rock and roll accessible to dance fans and dance accessible to rock and roll fans. Primal Scream’s subsequent album “Screamadelica” represented an epoch in UK pop history, it brought techno and house to a mainstream ear. The album earned remarkably rave reviews and later won the very first Mercury Music Prize in 1992.

1994’s “Give Out but Don’t Give Up” saw the band return to their hard rock element, although in comparison to its predecessors faired neither well in the charts or nor among critics. Shortly after Primal Scream contributed the lead track to the cult film “Trainspotting”, which paved the way for a darker themed well-received electronic album titled “Vanishing Point” in 1997. The band subsequently released the albums “XTRMNTR” in 2000, “Evil Heat” in 2002, “Riot City Blues” in 2006, and “More Light” in 2013.