Primal Scream

The greatest hits album usually signifies that a band is either hanging up their gloves or has already done so years prior, yet Primal Scream is still a band going strong after 20 years. One of the most important acts to emerge from the UK in the last quarter century, Bobby Gillespie’s crew has never seen overwhelming chart success, but the critical adoration along with consistent sales figures has shown that their innovative style of rock’n’roll has not gone unnoticed. Dirty Hits is a summary of their best work set in chronological order. Although it fails to acknowledge their first two albums (one an ode to the Byrds, the other a tribute to MC5), this compilation covers everything from the genre-bending Screamadelica, when the band hit their stride, to the recent electro-punk-rocker Evil Heat. Avoiding the inclusion of all their singles ("Stars” and "Don’t Fight It, Feel It” are missing, among others), the track listing gives a first hand account of how powerful and exciting Primal Scream are. Highlights include "Loaded,” the greatest party anthem ever which hasn’t dated after 13 years, the Stones-y stomper "Rocks” and "Shoot Speed Kill Light,” the greatest Joy Division song Ian Curtis didn’t write. Fans may scoff at the absence of new material, but a second disc of remixes by Automator, Jagz Kooner and Massive Attack makes for some vital listening.