The Primitives – Lazy, 1986-1988 (1989)

About a month ago Marcelo, a faithful reader of the PCP, suggested that I write here about the delicious Lovelythe debut album by the dear Primitives, an English band that emerged in the mid-1980s, ended its activities at the beginning of the following decade and returned to activity much later, in 2009.

And yes, I started writing about the aforementioned album, but in one of the many turns of this wonderfully round earth, I was violently thrown back a few years before that magical 1989 when RCA put the primitives’ debut on the market. So fucked…

Because before they signed with the major and debuted with a full album, Paul Court, Steve Dullaghan, Peter Tweedie (later replaced by Tig Williams) and the wonderful Tracy Tracy already had stories to tell, stories that were more raw and noisy, when they were still releasing singles by Lazy Records. And it is precisely at this time that I was thrown by the spin of our wonderfully round planet.

Songs like “Thru the flowers”, the Primitives’ first record from 1986, “Really stupid”, “Across my shoulder” or “Stop killing me” are the most feedback/distorted Coventry quartet and (also) closest to great influence from half the world there from C-86 and surroundings, obviously the Mary Chain (but with Tracy’s sweet voice as a point of imbalance in relation to contemporaries).

These and other tracks from the early days of the band are on the compilation that runs here now, simply and effectively called Lazy, 1986-1989. And also as others present in the collection (“Shadow”, “Buzz buzz”) entered ‘slightly transformed and cleaner’ in Lovelythe record I was supposed to be writing about right now, but it was knocked over by one of the gyres of this wonderful round earth.

Anyway, I apologize to Marcelo, today I was taken by the most…primitive (sic) Primitives. But I promise to come back here with their official debut, talk about their influence on future generations (think Velocity Girl and Raveonettesfor example), about the change in paths that led them to Pure (1989) or Galore (1991) and the provisional end of his journey. Now I say goodbye and advise everyone to turn up the volume and press play.

Essential!