Following the Byrds-indebted bliss of Primal Scream’s debut, Sonic Flower Groove, bandleader Bobby Gillespie reassembled a lineup and literally grew his hair long to prepare for the uninhibited riffs and leather-laden swagger of the group’s eponymous sophomore album in 1989.?! Fans were surprised—just like when Gillespie’s old group The Jesus & Mary Chain swapped noisy gauze for high-production sheen—but time has shown thrilling reinvention to be Gillespie’s greatest asset. The shift is told by the cover art: instead of Sonic Flower Groove’s nod to 1960s collegiate artist chic, Primal Scream’s cover depicts little more than wild manes in motion—the visual analog to both the blues-spew thump of “Ivy Ivy Ivy” and the incredible, Beggars Banquet-era Rolling Stones homage, “I’m Losing More Than I’ll Ever Have” (which made history again as the basis for Primal Scream’s crossover hit, “Loaded”).?!
LP $20.25
09/09/2016
Bobby Gillespie’s departure from The Jesus & Mary Chain enabled the pioneering Scots bandleader to focus on Primal Scream full-time.?! The rewards arrived quickly: the early B-side “Velocity Girl” ended up on NME’s legendary C86 compilation (and later inspired the American indie-pop band of the same name), and Primal Scream connected with the crucial English indie label Creation.?! For the band’s debut, Primal Scream opted for producer Mayo Thompson—leader of left-field psych outfit Red Krayola and producer for Pere Ubu, Felt, and The Chills, among others—and completed Sonic Flower Groove for release on the newly set up Warner Bros.?! subsidiary Elevation Records in 1987. It’s the only album featuring Gillespie’s wistful, almost fey vocal style, which makes impeccably balanced pop compositions like “Aftermath” especially infectious.?! The influence of The Byrds is glaring.?!
LP $20.25
09/09/2016
***BACK IN STOCK ON LIMITED RED & YELLOW VINYL!!! A reissue of this classic dance and indie-pop album that transcends its time and influence.?! Includes all the tracks from the original release, remastered from the original master tapes, packaged in a gatefold sleeve with the original artwork, and pressed on 180-gram vinyl..?!
2XLP $30.15
03/18/2016
***AVAILABLE AGAIN AT A NEW LOWER PRICE!!! Their fifth album originally released in 1997 and named after and inspired by the 1971 Richard C. Sarafian cult film of the same title.?! The songs were meant to be an alternative soundtrack to that movie and as lead singer BOBBY GILLESPIE said it "the music in the film is hippy music and it's always been a favourite of the band, we love the air of paranoia and speed-freak righteousness: pure underground cinema, rammed with claustrophobia." The band draws inspiration from dub and Can, ambient music, Motörhead, and The Stooges to create a dark mix of drum and bass, dance, and rock close to their magnum opus Screamadelica. Vanishing Point was the first album to feature bass player GARY “MANI” MOUNFIELD (formerly of THE STONE ROSES), while guests include AUGUSTUS PABLO, GLEN MATLOCK and THE MEMPHIS HORNS.?!
2XLP $23.15
05/31/2011
***A reissue of this classic dance and indie-pop album that transcends its time and influence.?! Includes all the tracks from the original release, remastered from the original master tapes, packaged in a gatefold sleeve with the original artwork, and pressed on 180-gram vinyl..?!
2XLP $31.15
08/19/2003