Primal Scream ditch electronic sound

Primal Scream returned to the UK live stage last night with a special one-off gig at Glasgow’s King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut (January 30).

During the course of the 20-song set, the band debuted six brand new songs from their forthcoming, as-yet-untitled, eighth album.

The new songs – ‘Country Girl’, ‘Cars’, ‘Nitty Gritty’, ‘Suicide Sally’, ‘Bomb Drops’ and ‘Hole In My Heart’ – confirmed rumours that the band have foregone their recent, electronically-influenced sound for a return to the straightforward rock ‘n’ roll of their ‘Give Out But Don’t Give Up’ era.

The political edge of the band’s ‘XTRMNTR’ period is still apparent however, with the lyric of ‘Bomb Drops’ referring to the use of Molotov cocktails.

Singer Bobby Gillespie also altered the chorus of the confrontational ‘Swastika Eyes’ to “American eyes”.

The band covered John Lennon’s similarly politicised ‘Gimme Some Truth’, alongside a faithful version of 13th Floor Elevators’ ‘Slip Inside This House’ – previously reinterpreted by the Scream as an acid house track on their classic ‘Screamadelica’ album.

Last night’s show was attended by competition winners celebrating the opening of XFM’s Scottish franchise.

DJ support came from longtime Primal Scream collaborator Andrew Weatherall.

The setlist was:

‘Country Girl’
‘Cars’
‘Jailbird’
‘Shoot Speed Kill Light’
‘Detroit’
‘Nitty Gritty’
‘Suicide Sally’
‘Kill All Hippies’
‘Bomb Drops’
‘Hole In My Heart’
‘Medication’
‘Rocks’
‘Kowalski’
‘Swastika Eyes’
‘Moving On Up’
‘Slip Inside This House’
‘Accelerator’
‘Skull X’
‘Gimme Some Truth’
‘Sick City’

Primal Scream tickets: