Primal Scream
Riot City Blues
Release Date: Aug 22, 2006
Genre(s): Rock, Alternative
Record label: Sony / Columbia
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Album Review: Riot City Blues by Primal Scream
Great, Based on 2 Critics
Based on rating 4/5
Since their 2002's Evil Heat, changes have been afoot in Primal Scream. Guitarist Robert Young, a mainstay since 1983, has mysteriously vanished from the line-up, apparently "on sabbatical". So has Kevin Shields; presumably being in Primal Scream interfered with the former My Bloody Valentine frontman's pressing schedule of doing virtually nothing. If the former disappearance seems more surprising, the opening notes of Riot City Blues suggest the latter has had the greater impact.
Based on rating 7/10
One can hear traces of not only the Faces but everything from early Alice Cooper (à la Killer) to Mott the Hoople, David Bowie, the Kinks, the New York Dolls, and a whole lot of other rock & roll bands. Looser than the Black Crowes, thinner than even the Black Keys; it's simply shambolic from top to bottom. This is trashy, nasty rock music that doesn't feel modern but it does feel timeless.