Primal Scream Announces Expanded Reissues for Iconic Albums
The influential band Primal Scream has revealed comprehensive details regarding the upcoming expanded reissues of three of their seminal albums: ‘Vanishing Point’, ‘XTRMNTR’, and ‘Evil Heat’. These highly anticipated releases, collectively dubbed ‘The Bunker Trilogy’, will be made available throughout the autumn season in various formats, including double LP, CD, and digital versions.
Release Schedule and Content
The reissue campaign commences on August 7 with the re-release of 1997’s ‘Vanishing Point’. This will be followed by ‘XTRMNTR’ on September 4, and finally ‘Evil Heat’ on October 30. The collection promises a deep dive into these significant works, featuring newly remastered audio, previously unheard material, a comprehensive selection of b-sides, and newly written liner notes offering fresh insights into the albums’ creation and context.
A Statement on Artistic Vision
Frontman Bobby Gillespie described ‘The Bunker Trilogy’ albums as a deliberate departure from the prevailing trends in 1990s UK music. “The albums constituting ‘The Bunker Trilogy’ were the complete antithesis of everything that was going on in UK music in the 1990s,” Gillespie stated. “We were making uncompromising aggressive experimental pop and rock music with lyrics about psychic dislocation, addiction, alienation, depression, questioning our very existence and documenting the dark sleazy underbelly of UK youth culture.”
He further elaborated on the band’s critical stance during that era. “We were wary of New Labour and its neo-liberal trojan horse policies and we were prescient in our prediction of the resurgence of fascism, militarism and Imperialism to come in the 21st century. We were not ever ‘Britpop’ – we wanted to burn the flag, not wave it.”
Gillespie contrasted their approach with the wider music scene, noting, “Whilst the rest of the UK music and cultural scene fell in love with itself, convinced by their own genius, drowning in an orgy of narcissism and cocaine in a permanent self-aggrandising state, we had had our times of utopian thinking at the beginning of the decade but were now full of disgust for ourselves and the world.”
He concluded, “Out of that self-reflecting mood came the albums ‘Vanishing Point’, ‘XTMTR’ and ‘Evil Heat’. All recorded at our north London studio, The Bunker. We are quietly ecstatic that these albums have all been newly mastered complete with the necessary ‘B’ sides from the times and will once again be available on vinyl, CD and streaming platforms, as this is a body of work that we are very, very proud of.”
Tracklisting Highlights
‘Vanishing Point’ Reissue Includes:
- Side A: ‘Burning Wheel’, ‘Get Duffy’, ‘Kowalski’
- Side B: ‘Star’, ‘If They Move Kill ‘Em’, ‘Out Of The Void’, ‘Stuka’
- Side C: ‘Medication’, ‘Motorhead’, ‘Trainspotting’, ‘Long Life’
- Side D – Bonus Tracks: ’96 Tears’ (B-Side), ‘Jesus’ (B-Side), ‘How Does It Feel To Belong’ (B-Side), ‘Rebel Dub’ (B-Side), ‘Hammond Connection’ (B-Side)
‘XTRMNTR’ Reissue Includes:
- Side A: ‘Kill All Hippies’, ‘Accelerator’, ‘Exterminator’, ‘Swastika Eyes (Jagz Kooner mix)’
- Side B: ‘Pills’, ‘Bloody Money’, ‘Keep Your Dreams’, ‘Insect Royalty’
- Side C: ‘MBV Arkestra (If They Move Kill ‘Em)’, ‘Swastika Eyes (Chemical Brothers mix)’, ‘Shoot Speed / Kill Light’
- Side D Bonus Tracks: ‘The Reckoning’ (Previously Unreleased), ‘I’m Five Years Ahead Of My Time (Brendan Lynch Mix)’ (Previously Unreleased), ‘When The Kingdom Comes’ (B-Side), ‘Exterminator (Massive Attack Remix)’ (B-Side), ‘The Revenge Of The Hammond Connection’ (B-Side)
‘Evil Heat’ Reissue Includes:
- Side A: ‘Deep Hit Of Morning Sun’, ‘Miss Lucifer’, ‘Detroit’, ‘Autobahn 66’
- Side B: ‘Rise’, ‘The Lord Is My Shotgun’, ‘City’, ‘Some Velvet Morning’
- Side C: ‘Skull X’, ‘A Scanner Darkly’, ‘Space Blues Number 2’
- Side D Bonus Tracks: ‘Autobahn 66 (Radio Edit)’, ‘Some Velvet Morning (Jagz Kooner Mix )’, ‘Substance D (Andy Weatherall Mix of ‘A Scanner Deeply’)’ (B-side), ‘Some Velvet Morning (Disco Heater Dub)’ (B-side), ‘Country Blues #1’ (B-side)
Additionally, the reissue of the ‘If They Move Kill Em’ 12 inch single will feature ‘If They Move Kill ‘Em (My Bloody Valentine Arkestra)’, ‘If They Move Kill ‘Em (12 inch Disco Mix)’, ‘Darklands’, and ‘Badlands’.
‘XTRMNTR’ Anniversary Tour Dates
In conjunction with these reissues, Primal Scream is set to embark on their ‘XTRMNTR’ UK anniversary tour. The tour begins with a two-night homecoming stand at Glasgow’s Barrowland on September 3 and 4. The band will conclude the tour in London at HERE Outernet on September 15. At each performance, Primal Scream will play the ‘XTRMNTR’ album in its entirety. This follows their 25th-anniversary performance of the record at London’s Roundhouse in December and their recent world tour supporting their 2024 album, ‘Come Ahead’.
