If Primal Scream somehow ended up amid the tea towels, mixers and gingham of Bake Off, ‘Come Ahead’ wouldn’t put them in line for a handshake. Their 12th studio album, much like their entire career, is an inconsistent series of 11 bakes. Some are burnt, some underdone, and a few are cooked to perfection. They simply can’t weigh their ingredients.
If they get the musical texture just right, the thematic flavour falls short and vice versa. On one hand, Love Ain’t Enough has racy riffs and James Bond strings but its are eye-rolling: “Some men devote their whole lives to a woman that they love, to be taken advantage of and cursed out like a dog.”
On the other, Deep Dark Waters’ blend of ricocheting drums and Bobby Gillepsie’s signature drawl is forgettable, yet its indictment of the UK’s political outlook is razor-sharp. “Our fortress continent, our values torn and bent, we bomb and when they run, we tell them they can’t come,” Gillespie sings.
This chemical imbalance plagues ‘Come Ahead’. So does its lack of quality control. As their second longest album, and nearly double the length of 2016’s ‘Chaosmosis’, it rarely justifies the investment of time required to experience it.
False Flags and Settlers Blues are narrative gems, painting vivid portraits of Scotland’s political landscape over the centuries, yet the lack musical backbone — or anything remotely melodically interesting. Unfortunately, both are over the eight-minute mark, and their runtimes run you down.
It’s all the more frustrating because elsewhere they do deliver the goods. Opener Ready To Go Home’s gospel-funk feels like a celebration song for Gillespie rising from his own spiritual cave, while Innocent Money is a heady mix of acid jazz, Jamiroquai, and spoken word magic from Renee Alynne.
If Primal Scream’s discography is anything to go by, ‘Come Ahead’ could lead to their second coming. They’re so wildly inconsistent, this could just be the record that brings about a late-career revival.
Primal Scream Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Mon March 31 2025 - BRISTOL Bristol Beacon
Tue April 01 2025 - SOUTHAMPTON O2 Guildhall Southampton
Thu April 03 2025 - EDINBURGH Usher Hall
Fri April 04 2025 - GLASGOW O2 Academy Glasgow
Sat April 05 2025 - GLASGOW O2 Academy Glasgow
Mon April 07 2025 - BIRMINGHAM O2 Academy Birmingham
Tue April 08 2025 - LIVERPOOL Liverpool Uni Mountford Hall
Thu April 10 2025 - LONDON Eventim Apollo
Fri April 11 2025 - MANCHESTER Warehouse - Aviva Studios
Sat April 12 2025 - NOTTINGHAM Rock City
Mon April 14 2025 - BELFAST Ulster Hall
Tue April 15 2025 - DUBLIN 3Olympia Theatre
Fri April 18 2025 - LEEDS O2 Academy Leeds
Sat April 19 2025 - NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE O2 City Hall
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