Primal Scream • Riot City Blues

B

Riot City Blues, released by anyone other than Primal Scream, would be an album meet with greater acceptance, but as is, Primal Scream's work is once again subject to critical scorn. Either misunderstood or simply unappreciated, Primal Scream's roots-rock efforts are typically lambasted (Riot City Blues being the latest).

While hardly innovative, Riot City Blues is nevertheless catchy and fun. "Country Girl," sounding like a cross between Steve Earle and The Black Crowes, kicks off things with a light-hearted stomp. Things turn a bit nasty with the rollicking "Suicide Sally And Johnny Guitar" (juxtaposing salvation and sex in pure Rolling Stone fashion).

Darker undertones haunt "When The Bomb Drops," and the fantastic, moody psychedelia of "Little Death" is an album highlight. Riot City Blues closes with "Sometimes I Feel So Lonely," a song on par with recent work by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (BRMC's Howl being a similar, but much more realized effort). Riot City Blues is neither original nor revolutionary, but for all of its faults, having a bad song isn't one of them.