When I wrote a Jadis review recently, I said that I had to check the calendar to confirm that I was in 2012 and not in 1992, so when I heard that Primitive Instinct were releasing a new album as well I did a serious doubletake. PI were one of the very first bands signed to Cyclops Records when Malcolm started the label (‘Floating Tangibility’ being the third on the label) yet by the time that the album was released in 1994 the band had already been around for seven years. They were fairly active on the London circuit but for some reason I never actually caught one of their gigs, although I regularly bumped into guitarist/vocalist Nick Sheridan as he was often attending the same concerts as me. I had put them into the bucket of ‘bands I should I have seen but are now long gone’, yet here we have a new album (release date November 3rd) and a 25th anniversary gig to launch the album!
So after all this time, what would the album be like? In many ways this is mature yet also with a naïveté that makes it truly appealing. There are elements of It Bites, some of Hogarth-era Marillion, some BJH, some Howard Jones, but essentially lots of PI. The songs are built around Nick’s vocals, with a very loose structure so that there is loads of space and room for the music to live and breathe. There are many more pop sensibilities than many other prog acts, and these guys could easily work with a well-known Prog band but could also cut into musical areas dominated by bands as diverse as Mumford & Sons or Coldplay.
It is an album that makes me smile while I listen to it for no particular reason (any reference to too much alcohol will obviously be ignored). The band have grown older (well we all have), yet to my abused ears we could be back in the early Nineties when British prog was truly underground and everyone in the scene felt that were involved in something special together. It’s been 12 years since the last album, let’s hope we don’t have to wait so long for the next one. For more information on the band and to order the CD visit www.primitive-instinct.com.
