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Thursday 19 February 2015

Give Out But Don't Give Up


I was listening to Primal Scream's Give Out But Don't Give Up recently. I saw it in a charity shop for 50p on cd and bought it. It's handy to have vinyl lps in a digital format sometimes, if nothing else for listening to in the car. It took me quite a while to get around to buying it when it came out in 1994. As a follow up to Screamadelica it seemed so retrogressive and while I'd bought and loved the Rocks single it just didn't yell 'buy me' at me in 1994. At the time the press labelled the band Dance Traitors and listening to it now it is difficult to disagree except that in hindsight Screamadelica is the odd one out really. Given the extensive touring the band were doing, the drug intake and the opportunities they were presented with it's probably no surprise they indulged themselves with every rock cliche imaginable. From the William Egglestone Old Glory cover onwards this is early 70s US rock, in velvet trousers, snakeskin shoes and silk scarves. The two openers Jailbird and Rocks are both fine Stonesy rockers, good dirty fun with big Throb riffs. The ballads are all ok too but there are too many of them and crucially none of them are as good as Screamadelica's Damaged. To these ears the only two songs that really move things forward are the ones done with George Clinton- Funky Jam and the title track. Funky Jam is exactly what it says it is but has got some clout. Give Out But Don't Give Up is marvelous- sultry, woozy, head spinning funk with lovely vocals from Denise Johnson, dirty guitars and Clinton's atomic touch.

Give Out But Don't Give Up

Having said this, criticisms and all, I enjoyed listening to it. It sounded better now than it did back then, twenty one years ago. The question that then struck me was, bearing in mind the somewhat parallel late 80s and early 90s careers of Primal Scream and The Stone Roses, is it better than The Second Coming?


6 comments:

drew said...

I really liked this album bought it straight away. For me it was the only way to go, a rehash of the previous album or something trying to capture the mood of the times again and failing would have been disappointing. But then again it appealed to the guitar loving bit of me.

As for whether it is better than The Second Coming, I think it hangs together better as an album, however it doesn't have anything as brilliant
as Breaking Into Heaven

Swiss Adam said...

It sounds like an album. The Second Coming doesn't so much, which has greater high spots but worse low points.

Beard Calhoun said...

It's a better album than The Second Coming but doesn't have a track as good as Begging You on it.

Erik Bartlam said...

Yer Banned.

I'm really getting tired of having to ban y'all.

That is not the stripped cunt old glory...that is the Confederate Battle Flag. William is ours..is us...and he will be making an appearance along with the rest of the T.G.I. Friday's crowd on Low Cotton soon. Hopefully, for your sake,it won't be in the next ten minutes because your access has been denied until 7:41 central time.

Breaks my heart...but there it is.

Anonymous said...

Oooops
Swiss Adam

Erik Bartlam said...

Your access has been restored and your time in the wilderness has ended.

There used to be, what irritatingly became, a regular feature on the old blog about ol glory. I travel all over Mississippi and Louisiana fir work...and I often stop at Confederate cemeteries.

Somebody or group of somebodies has taken to planting U.S. flags on the graves of Confederate unknowns...every 4th of July, Memorial Day, etc. Mind-boggling.

So I went around snatching them up and uh...disposing them.

:)

William Eggleston, Jim Dickinson, Alex Chilton and them have been on my mind a lot this week...and will probably make an appearance shortly.