40 years on from their formation, Glasgow’s The Primevals remain committed to their original sins – a love of garage rock and the scuzzy underbelly of psychedelia along with hints of free jazz and kraut rock- on their latest release The Dividing Line. It’s the seventh album they’ve released since their relaunch in 2011 and, as with its predecessors, it shows that the band are more than happy to grow old disgracefully with no gentle slipping into the night for them.
The album opens with a throbbing bass line and electric piano on The Drop, immediately reminding one of The Doors although Morrison and his chums never sounded as ferocious as this. They return to The Doors influence on Suckin’ On Nothing Street although here it’s the more poetic side of Morrison which is envisaged. Being The Primevals they can’t resist taking the song into a nihilistic underground and while singer Michael Rooney turns in his finest Morrison croon on the quieter moments (and just about admits to stealing the melody) a gargantuan riff dominates the song.
There’s a Beefheartian soul surely within the pumping pomp of Sonic Highway with Rooney wailing away about a beast on the loose as the band play like a Martian blues band high on whatever Martians get high on. Drifting Away is more straightforward as it’s propelled by the barrelling rhythm section with the guitars set to stun and Hang Loose hits you in a similar manner with the band whipping up a mighty storm fuelled by a stone cold solid organ groove and more guitars than you could shake a stick at. Grit & Grime opens this groove up somewhat with thrashed acoustic guitars and a massed vocal chorus popping up amidst the musical mayhem while Rest In Power, an obituary for a departed comrade, allows guitarists Tom Rafferty and Martyn Rodger to indulge in a brief moment of Eastern mysticism. As for the oblique title of WTFHTU, a truly demented rocker, listen closely to the freaky coda at the end for all to be revealed.
High Street is a rare moment of biography from Rooney as he recalls his Glasgow upbringing, close to a prison which was the scene of an infamous shoot out (years before he was around mind you). If you want to really want know who influenced him then listen to the litany of sixties icons he references here. Most striking is the apocalyptic creep of The Will Of The People, a close companion to the claustrophobic songs of Second Nature, the band’s pandemic album. Here they prowl and snarl with poisonous guitars snaking around the gritty urban background. The album closes with some Farfisa pumped garage rock on Walking At Night with all cylinders on fire. Here they approach the feral ferocity of The Gun Club on a grand close to what is another mighty album from The Primevals.