Primal Scream - Exterminator (Creation)

Personally, I never got "Screamadelica". Back when Primal Scream were "it", I thought it was criminal how they overshadowed the vastly superior Spiritualised. But, I can understand the continuing disappointment fans of that particular release must feel with every subsequent opus. "Give Out..." should, of course, be forgotten, but even the so-called "return to form" was an aimless, derivative mish-mash. And now we've got "Exterminator", which proves, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Primal Scream have not got a fucking clue what they're at.

'Kill All Hippies' is industrialised funk, 'Accelorator' is distorted garage rock, à la the gone, but not forgotten, Thee Hypnotics, while the title track is a beefed-up version of the "Screamadelica" vibe. I will admit that 'Swastika Eyes' is a tasty little fetishistic heavy electro number, but the fact that both versions on this are remixes probably has something to do with its quality. 'Pils', on the other hand, is awful - bits of Enigma-esque Gregorian chants, a hip-hop backing and dreadful rapping from Bobby Gillespie that descends into the sub-NIN repetition of the words "sick" and "fuck". Things do not improve with the 70s cop flick soundtrack instrumental sound of 'Blood Money', all space rock and saxophones that go on for 7 minutes.

'Keep Your Dreams' is that required ambienty chill out number that "must" be on every bloody dance record, why I don't know, 'cos the style really doesn't suit them. 'Insect Royalty' is a leap back to the early 90s and baggy - all blips and beeps with a wacked out Madchester-style vocal. 'MBV Arkestra' is another attempt at the 70s cop flick soundtrack, a horrible mess of sound fx and beats. The Chemical Brothers remix of 'Swastika Eyes' rolls around like a breath of fresh air, with crisp beats and a clean dancefloor vibe. Finally 'Shoot Speed/Kill Light' simultaneously rips off 'Turn to Red' by Killing Joke and 'Let Forever Be' by the Chemical Brothers, while rapidly disappearing up its own arse. This is a pointless, unfocussed mess and is best avoided. Buy the 'Swastika Eyes' single instead.

Donnacha DeLong