Quick Thoughts on The Wave Pictures' "Instant Coffee Baby" and Primal Scream's "Beautiful Future"

If you've been following Dead Flowers for any amount of time, you know that I don't do "quirky". So you're going to read about Radiohead, not Vampire Weekend; DJ Shadow, not Girl Talk. The Wave Pictures, a band from London, are about as quirky as you can get. And they're lo-fi boot, another no-no as far as I'm concerned. But I have to tell you, I love this record, quirks and all. Affecting melodies are abundant here, whether it's the single "Just Like a Drummer" or the oddly touching "Red Wine Teeth". There's also an unabashed sense of humor. On "I Love You Like a Madman", in addition to the already ridiculous horn section and extended saxophone outro, the narrator promises to buy his love 'chocolate instead of chutney, good red wine instead of bad red wine'. Amazingly, it works. Highly recommended.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Listen/Download:
"I Love You Like a Madman"
[Myspace]

Primal Scream, on the other hand, are about as far away from "quirky" as you can get. It's true they've been a Dead Flowers favorite for some time. But it's also true that like Oasis, they're content to add a few tracks to the inevitable second career-spanning greatest-hits collection rather than put together a complete album. "Beautiful Future" continues that template, for better or worse. So lead-off single "Can't Go Back" is a barn-burning, fist-pumping anthem, and "Beautiful Summer" sounds like a Jefferson Airplane ode to hallucinogenic drugs. There's also the intriguing but ultimately harmless pop of "The Glory of Love" and a exhilarating bonus track, the instrumental "Time of the Assassins". On the other hand, there's a whole lot of filler. "Uptown and "Zombie Man" are both wretched. One wonders why in this day of iTunes the Scream even bother putting together full albums in the first place. I can't answer that, but I do know that your 'Best of Primal Scream' playlist just got a few songs longer.

Rating: 5 out of 10

"Can't Go Back" Promo:


Listen/Download:
"The Glory of Love" (Single Version)
[Myspace]