The Primitives - Jun 22 The Primitives date back to the mid 80s indie scene when paisley shirts, jangly guitar intermingled loads of fuzzy feedback were all the rage. The likes of Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream and The Wedding Present were yet to become household names, and in those pre Madchester/Britpop days, getting any of our bands in the mainstream charts and Top the Pops was an achievement to shout about. Even when our bands did breach the Top 40, they normally languished in the lower half of the chart, so when The Primitives’ first major label single ‘Crash’ went into the Top 5, we were ecstatic (except those indie fans who would shout sell out when their heroes sold more than 10 copies of their battered demo tapes).

Tracy Tracy’s melodic vocals accompanied by Paul Court’s guitar and his mastery of the sub three minute pop song meant that debut album ‘Lovely’ went into the UK Top 10 album charts. Albums ‘Pure’ and ‘Galore’ followed before the band split in 1992. Fast forward to 2009 and the band reform around the core of Tracy and Paul, releasing a covers album of lesser known female vocal led songs in 2012 (‘Echoes and Rhymes’) and the excellent ‘Spin-O-Rama’ in 2014.

Barring the enforced break in 2020, the band have been on the road frequently since reforming and tonight was Reading’s turn.

First up we have Eat Daddy Eat, channeling late 80s/ early 90s Jesus and Mary Chain with a slice of Spacemen 3 and Loop added to the mix. Highly enjoyable stuff.

Local ‘billy favourites are up next bringing their sound to Reading for the second time in a week (having supported The Mission at Sub89 within the last 7 days). Always engaging, the pulsating rhythm section hits the right spots whilst songs such as ‘Town Called Sorrow’ and ‘Bring Out Your Dead’ are worthy vehicles for Nigel’s vocals. Matt’s frenetic surf guitar tops off the mix and the audience are suitably engaged by the band.

And then the main attraction - the band start up with the intro to ‘Thru the Flowers’ and Tracy Tracy enters the stage. Tracy has lost none of her vocal talents and their debut single sounds much as it did back in 1986, all dreamy vocals and fuzzy guitars. The set heavily rests on the debut album and the singles around it, so next up is the rush of ‘Stop Killing Me’.  The title track of the last album ‘Spin-O-Rama’ is a nice introduction to the post reformation material and sounds as good as anything off the first two albums. ‘Buzz Buzz Buzz’ sees Paul take lead vocals for the first time tonight and is a frantic two minute rockabilly stomp.  

Classic indie single ‘Stick of It’ gets the crowd jumping around before we return to the last album with ‘Lose the Reason’ and ‘Petals’. Early single ‘Really Stupid’ follows with a nice addition of b-side ‘Where the Wind Blows’. ‘Way Behind Me’ from ‘Pure’ is followed by the first of two new tunes tonight. ‘Till I’m Alive’ sees Paul back on lead vocals and is reminiscent of the Wedding Present. ‘Nothing Left’ from the debut flows into another new tune ‘Don’t Know Where to Start’ and is a pleasant addition to the band’s repertoire.

I don’t need to say much about ‘Crash’ but it is still one of those perfect tunes that never outstays it’s welcome. Finishing the set with ‘I’ll Trust the Wind’ from the last EP, the band demonstrate their ability to produce short catchy songs that would be a good addition to any serious music collection.

The Facebar doesn’t really have an off stage area, so it’s not long before the band are back to encore with ‘Everything’s Shining Bright’, ‘Spearhead’ and ‘I’ll Stick with You’.

This was a cracking set with the band making the songs sound as urgent as they did back in the 1980s. The newer material demonstrates a band that can still produce quality songs and Tracy Tracy is still as alluring and engaging as ever. Another crowd pleasing evening in Reading and no need to spend money going into that there London.

Eat Daddy Eat - Jun 22 The Go Go Cult - Jun 22 The Go Go Cult - Jun 22 The Primitives - Jun 22 The Primitives - Jun 22 The Primitives - Jun 22