The cover of Primal Scream's ninth album features a young boy draped in a rather large snake; but considering Primal Scream's predilection for transfiguration throughout their 20-year career, perhaps a chameleon would have been more appropriate. With the emphasis firmly on the latter idiom of its title, Riot City Blues indulges Gillespie's love of gritty, bluesy rock 'n' roll, glam brashness and Stones-esque ballsiness, and harks back to the beefy Americana of 1994's Give Out But Don't Give Up; quite a departure from 2004's electroriot thumper Evil Heat. Unsurprisingly, the omission of experimental producer Kevin Shields is glaringly obvious, and if you're expecting any supermodel introductions or breathy-vocal guest appearances, look away now. The closest Bobby Gillespie comes to glamour on Riot City Blues is Alison 'VV' Mosshart (The Kills) and Echo and the Bunnymen's Will Sergeant. Still, it could be worse. Lead single Country Girl is a swinging country-pop charmer that's already given them their highest ever chart placing; We're Gonna Boogie is an stripped-down harmonica-led number and Nitty Gritty is a spewed and swaggering country rock track that would be at home in some desolate bar in the Mid-West that has spare ribs billed above the band. Where this album excels, though is on six-minute epic Little Death, all sinister psych riffs and eastern atmospherics; on T-Rex glam-stomper Dolls (Sweet Rock and Roll) (featuring the aforementioned Ms. Mosshart) and on gospel-tinted Flying Burrito Brothers homage Sometimes I Feel So Lonely. Undoubtedly, Primal Scream are at their best when they're pushing musical boundaries, inciting bewilderment and defying aural logic. Riot City Blues is unquestionably not such an album; but it's still a satisfying diversion from their usual incendiary style.
