Primrods

Even on their studio outtakes and early cassette demos, dearly departed Calgary punks the Primrods sound like they knew exactly what they were going after. The 18 tracks collected here are culled from four sources: the Primrods 1992 Electrocity cassette, a pair of '93 Sloth Records compilations and studio leftovers from the band's Kneecappin! CD sessions the following year. Though inconsistent, the sound quality here suggests there was some sort of clean up effort put in for the sake of this release. The band's varied and abstract approach to its art school punk rock is well documented here, as is the group's keen sense of originality and playfulness; that the Primrods are still referred to as Canada's Wire should come as no surprise. This release doesn't do much to illuminate the shadows of mystery that have long surrounded the band though. In the alternately hilarious and informative liner notes essay, Primrods members are still referred to as P1, P5, etc. (the number represents the order in which each member joined the band). Perhaps most disappointing is that none of the material here so much as hints at the content of the Primrods almost legendary lost album, recorded during the band's brief fling with Geffen. That relationship supposedly resulted in a still unreleased full-length studio recording of enormous artistic merit and exactly zero commercial viability (or so the story goes). Apparently fans will have to pry those tapes out of David Geffen's cold dead hands if they ever want to hear them for themselves. Here's hoping they're worth the wait.