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PRIMAL SCREAM'S XTRMNTR IS MY FAVORITE RECORD AT THIS MOMENT IN TIMEPosted by Sam on 02.23.10

How can you not love an album that begins with a song called "Kill All Hippies"? Like, I used to have long hair and went to Bonnaroo that one time, but such a vitriolic banner phrase cannot go unadmired. And the funny thing is, Primal Scream were kind of hippies. They called their best album Screamadelica, an album that was, essentially, a super trippy record. But, they were (are?) also reckless drug addicts, and reckless drug addicts are self-loathing and self-contradictory and somewhat entertaining and can also be total geniuses. Screamadelica was genius, and XTRMNTR, which I was hopelessly ignorant of until earlier this week, is genius in a different way.

For one, It's egregiously abrasive: All of the synths sound like they tweaked to induce tinnitus instead of pleasure. There's a song called "Pills" that opens with Gregorian chant samples and a terrible, terrible rap (really the only low point of the whole album) before dropping into a break that sounds like a Dust Brothers production if the Dust Brothers actually smoked angeldust. There's a hard techno song called "Swaztika Eyes" that appears twice, once as a mix from Jagz Kooner, the other as a mix from the Chemical Brothers. Both versions sound like you need to be wearing parachute pants to get the FULL EXPERIENCE (you can also fist-pump to them). The last song is called "Shoot Speed/Kill Light," which, aside from "Kill All Hippies," seems to be the emotional crux of the whole thing.

It's a record I'd play in the midst of my darkest k-hole or when I'm making coffee and eating Cheerios (as I did this morning). It makes terror sound palatable and the hum drum of modern life routines more thrilling (that cup of coffee was really fucking good).

Someone needs to play this thing for the entire Hype Machine.