Primal Scream - Give Out But Don't Give Up: The Original Memphis Recordings [2CD] (2018)

Set aside all romantic notions about unfinished and unreleased albums: most scrapped albums are shelved because they're not very good. Certainly, that's the case with the Original Memphis Recordings of Give Out But Don't Give Up, the 1994 album that found Primal Scream reckoning with the American South without considering what may lie beneath the surface. Certainly, the cover of the original album -- which showcased a lit-up stars-and-bars -- illustrated that Primal Scream didn't care much for the intricacies of American politics, but what's really shocking about the original sessions showcased on this 2018 release is how they don't seem all that interested in American music, either. At best, the group work up a head of steam that recalls older British bands reckoning with American music -- "Rocks" is a Faces pastiche so good Rod Stewart would later bestow it with a cover -- and whenever the band try to relax into a groove, they wind up sounding messy. This is especially true of the second disc, which finds the group stumbling through their originals and covers with an equal sense of blindness. At first, the looseness is alluring, suggesting the listener is eavesdropping on the sessions, but soon the entire proceedings grow frustrating because it's clear that Primal Scream have no idea what they're doing. Listening to this set, it's little wonder Alan McGee decided to throw money at George Drakoulias to get this to sound a little bit like the Black Crowes: it was the only way to salvage the money, time, and effort Creation and Primal Scream spent on this misguided folly.