Primal Scream
XTRMNTR
Astralwerks

It takes down-home fortitude to re-invigorate a sound as tired and recycled as modern-day rock. On their sixth studio album, XTRMNTR, the British boy-pack Primal Scream offers a subversive post-funk, bang-your-head sound that is the stuff of alternative masses. Far from an opiate, it's a hair-raising wake-up call to get off your lazy arse and do something.

Drawing on musical influences as varied as Sly Stone and the Clash, Scream has come up with an unabashedly original sound. The centerpiece on XTRMNTR is the song "Swastika Eyes" remixed by the Chemical Brothers which is a media-bashing space rock commentary on the sad state of global disconnect. Throughout the album, vocalist Bobby Gillespie shifts between punk-funk mantras and lyrical croons with an endless reserve of seething discontent. But it's the instrumental tracks like "Blood Money" and "MBV
Arkestra (If They Move Kill 'Em)" that are among Scream's best work. It's difficult to pinpoint their influences: there are moments reminiscent of UK turntablist Amon Tobin's jazz-laced pastiches and the low-fi sultriness of Bristol dub.

Overall, the sound is something like Davis-style jazz looped with punk moderne, and edged with the haunting bass-heavy vibes of UK club music. Totally engaging and uncompromising, this is not the aural wallpaper of the neo-electronic generation. Rather, it is a demanding (sometimes ear-splitting) call to re-invention.-- Anicee Gaddis

4 out of 5