Primal Scream are essentially two bands rolled into one. Sometimes they're fiercely experimental innovators; at others, they're little more than a Rolling Stones/Faces tribute band. "Riot City Blues" falls into the latter camp. It's hardly the most exciting prospect, but then many Scream fans would argue that originality is a vastly overrated thing.
Probe a little and the lyrics reveal only the most basic statements. "Suicide Sally And Johnny Guitar," for example, is reportedly about washedup scaghead Pete Doherty and his sometime missus, Kate Moss; history's least interesting couple. Such tabloid fascination with idiocy is turning Britain into a mundane nation; that it should surface even on a Primal Scream record is cause for alarm indeed.
There are standouts, however. "When The Bomb Drops" channels the controlled chaos of Sonic Youth's "Dirty" album, while "Sometimes I Feel So Lonely" wrings with country melancholy. There's almost nothing interesting, original, deep or artistic about this record. But why should there be? "Riot City Blues" will make you dance, and that's more than can be said for most records at the moment. Darker-minded Screamers will hate this album, but the majority will love it. Which side you fall on is down to you.