The Primitives Lovely RCA, 1988 amazon

I made a comment in my last album review that the Mighty Lemon Drops dispensed with some of the hooks of colleagues the Primitives in favor of more straightforward distorted guitar power. Better? No freakin' way ... just different. Lovely was the Primitives' first album, released in 1988 after the band had cut their teeth with a slew of more punk and noise oriented demos. In that respect Lovely is a departure, with new versions of songs like "Crash", "Spacehead", and "Thru the Flowers" appearing with a focus on harmony over fuzz. Tracy Tracy's airy, melodic vocals are a constant, like honey poured on PJ Court's guitar and the solid rhythmic thumping of bassist Steve Dullaghan and drummer Pete Tweedie. The album sets off with the indie pop standard "Crash", sprinting through the noisy wash of "Spacehead" (which is more reminiscent of their older work). "Carry Me Home" and "Shadow" show off different sides of the band, with the latter exploring an Indian/Middle Eastern vibe. The album encompasses punky pop ("Dreamwalk Baby", "Buzz Buzz Buzz", "Stop Killing Me"), somber ballads ("Don't Want Anything to Change", "Ocean Blue"), and the sort of driving pop song the Primitives honed to perfection ("Crash", "Way Behind Me", "Thru the Flowers"). The band would weather lineup changes and an inability to parlay "Crash" into long-term stardom to produce two more fine albums, 1989's Pure and the obscure but nonetheless brilliant 1991 swan song Galore. Their catalog cements them (at least in my mind) as one of the most talented indie pop outfits of all time, influencing countless hordes of current torchbearers (for example, no Primitives equals no Legends, plain and simple).

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