Celebrate band’s Lovely anniversary
The Primitives, The Globe, Cardiff
FRONTED by indiepop blonde star Tracy Tracy, The Primitives emerged from the independent music scene of the mid-80s that spawned The Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, The Wedding Present and Primal Scream.
Their sound distilled the shimmering guitar jangle of the Byrds, the buzzsaw style of The Ramones and 60s girl group melodies into two and a half minute pop gems.
Regular session guests on John Peel’s radio show, with many an appearance in his Festive Fifty, their career was boosted when Morrissey named them as one of his favourite bands.
A widely acclaimed first album, Lovely, made them one of the UK’s most revered alternative acts, while the huge success of the single Crash saw them cross over to a mass audience. Further chart success followed, along with two more studio albums, Pure and Galore, plus extensive tours of Europe and the US, before the band called it a day in 1992.
In 2008, Mojo Magazine voted the Primitives’ second single Really Stupid one of the Top 40 UK indie singles of all time. The band were reunited in 2009 by the untimely passing of their original bass player Steve Dullaghan, reforming to play a show in his memory later that year in their home town of Coventry; their first show together for 17 years.
Bolstered by its success they went on to tour the UK in April 2010, receiving a rapturous response, followed by a headline slot at the Indietracks festival and shows in the US and Europe.
In 2011 the Primitives released the Never Kill A Secret EP featuring two new songs and two covers of semi obscure female fronted songs. The latter being a precursor to the covers album Echoes and Rhymes, released in 2012.
An album of new original songs entitled Spin-O-Rama was released in 2014 to lavish praise. The Primitives went back into the studio in late 2016 to record tracks for the New Thrills EP, which was released in May 2017.
■ The Primitives play The Globe on Sunday, November 18 at 7.30pm as part of their Lovely 30th Anniversary Tour. Visit http://globecardiffmusic. com for tickets.