Premier power jangle and noise poppers The Primitives hail from Coventry and formed back in 1984 and are fronted by the rather wonderful Tracy Tracy, who along with guitarist Paul “PJ” Court, have been in the band since formation. Drummer Tig Williams has been a constant member since 1987 and bassist Paul Sampton came along two years later in 1989. The Primitives emerged from the independent scene of the mid-80s that also spawned The Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, The Wedding Present, and Primal Scream.
Their widely acclaimed first album, ‘Lovely’, made them the UK’s indie darlings, while the huge success of the single ‘Crash’ saw them cross over to a mass audience. ‘Lovely’ also featured the singles ‘Thru The Flowers’, ‘Stop Killing Me’, ‘Way Behind Me’ and ‘Out Of Reach’. The band then disbanded in 1992, only to get it back together in 2009 and they have been straddling power pop, new wave and post-punk ever since.
The Primitives will be celebrating their 40th anniversary here in Brighton with a concert at the Komedia in the heart of North Laine on Wednesday 19th November. The concert has been organised by The Pad Presents and Spider Touring.
Tickets will go on sale at 10am Friday 28th February and can be purchased from HERE.
The Primitives were last seen in action in Brighton on 5th December last year, when they were on tour with The House Of Love. We were there to cover the night, so if you aren’t yet sure whether to snap up tickets for their compact Komedia concert, then our review will surely make up your mind………
THE PRIMITIVES – CHALK, BRIGHTON 5.12.24
This evening we are in their company for 42 minutes and during that time they offload no less than 15 tunes. There’s certainly no hanging around with this quartet as they take to the stage at 7:14pm as a version of ‘Louie Louie’ is blasting out the loud speakers. They then immediately kick off with the first of five tunes from their 1988 ‘Lovely’ album, this being ‘Thru The Flowers’, although according to their setlist, it originally started with ‘Stick With You’ but this was crossed out. Tracy is looking resplendent in silver and clearly the focus of attention in the band and the happy memories of my first encounter with the band came flooding back. I had the honour to catch The Primitives performing live at Brighton Polytechnic on 7th March 1987. I can remember being transfixed by Tracy throughout the whole of their 15 song set, one which incidentally has turned up on YouTube. Find it HERE.
Tune two this evening is my favourite Primitives tune, ‘Stop Killing Me’ which also turned up on their ‘Lovely’ album, although I must say for the record that I much preferred their earlier Lazy Records material as it was more skuzzy than their polished RCA stuff. As ever, this tune sounds wonderful again this evening, and before I know it, they launch straight into ‘Out Of Reach’ which can also be found on ‘Lovely’. Their 60s style swinging pop meets the Ramones ‘Way Behind Me’ track then had a jolly good outing. After which Tracy finally addressed the crowd “Thank you very much! How are you? Lots of ladies!” Then she added “Spin-O-Rama”, this being the title of the next song which is the title track from their 2014 album. Although it’s much later than the previous tracks, this blends in perfectly, and has that drum pattern used by the Cockney Rejects when chanting “West Ham”.
The sole cut from their 1991 ‘Galore’ album is their next choice, this being the most melodic track of their set, namely ‘You Are The Way’, which has an electronic drums samba cha cha style backbeat. They swiftly move onto their 2024 ‘I Won’t Care’ single, which is speedily followed by their old skool swinging proto punk vibey ‘Sick Of It’ which is from 1989’s ‘Pure’ album. This has a decent intro and some meaty bass playing. Throughout the set Tracy moves around the stage and often taps along on her tambourine and in between tunes has a sip of a drink, and the trio of lads are basically rooted to their spots. Paul then strums his guitar twice and they are away again with the rockin’ ‘Petals’ which is on their ‘Spin-O-Rama’ album from 2014. There’s more decent guitar strum action on their almost rockabilly ‘Buzz Buzz Buzz’ tune which is on their ‘Lovely’ album.
The 60’s vibe is back with the slower ‘Don’t Know Where To Start’ which came out as a single in 2022. It’s during this track that Tracy reminded me of Lauren Mayberry (of CHVRCHES fame), via her facial expressions and hand movements. The immediate and in your face 1986 ‘Really Stupid’ corker came next and was followed by their most famous number, this being ‘Crash’, which is also on ‘Lovely’. Their setlists did actually say that ‘Spacehead’ was originally to be performed next, but sadly it got dropped and they went on to ‘I’ll Trust The Wind’ which fits in perfectly with the older numbers and has the feel of the Buzzcocks via its beat and bass parts. This song can be found on their 2017 ‘New Thrills’ EP. Prior to playing this Tracy mournfully said “the penultimate song of the penultimate gig”. Clearly the band have been enjoying themselves on this tour which is good to hear. They signed off with ‘(We’ve) Found A Way (To The Sun)’ which was added to the end of their setlists. This track can be found on their 1986 ‘Really Stupid’ single, and it starts slowly and builds rather nicely, especially the drumming. And that was it and at 7:56pm they vacated the stage and we had been given a truly consistent set full of ‘Lovely’-ness! Terrific band!
The Primitives:
Tracy Tracy – vocals, tambourine
Paul Court – guitars, vocals
Tig Williams – drums
Paul Sampson – bass
The Primitives setlist:
‘Thru The Flowers’ (from 1988 ‘Lovely’ album)
‘Stop Killing Me’ (from 1988 ‘Lovely’ album)
‘Out Of Reach’ (from 1988 ‘Lovely’ album)
‘Way Behind Me’ (from 1989 ‘Pure’ album)
‘Spin-O-Rama’ (from 2014 ‘Spin-O-Rama’ album)
‘You Are The Way’ (from 1991 ‘Galore’ album)
‘I Won’t Care’ (from 2024 ‘I Won’t Care’ / ‘Everybody Needs Somebody To Hate’ single)
‘Sick Of It’ (from 1989 ‘Pure’ album)
‘Petals’ (from 2014 ‘Spin-O-Rama’ album)
‘Buzz Buzz Buzz’ (from 1988 ‘Lovely’ album)
‘Don’t Know Where To Start’ (a 2022 single)
‘Really Stupid’ (a 1986 single)
‘Crash’ (from 1988 ‘Lovely’ album)
‘I’ll Trust The Wind’ (from 2017 ‘New Thrills’ EP)
‘(We’ve) Found A Way (To The Sun)’ (from 1986 ‘Really Stupid’ single)
