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The Primary 5
Biography
The Primary 5 formed in March 2003 and comprise ex-Soup Dragons/Teenage
Fanclub drummer Paul Quinn, collaborative guitarist Ryan Currie, Stuart
Kidd on drums and Graeme Ferguson on bass. Quinn is the main lyricist
and vocalist which begs the question – how many other drummers out there
are capable of writing and performing such gorgeous pop balladry? Paul
Quinn and Teenage Fanclub may be as far away as you can get from the
risible Phil Collins and Genesis but it’s a scary thought nonetheless.
In 2004 The Primary 5 released their debut album North Pole which came
out on Quinn’s own Bellbeat Music label. The band’s debut show at
Glasgow’s King Tuts’ in August of that year was a sell out as was a
subsequent Tuts’ show the following Xmas. They continued to tour in 2005
this time with 60’s legend Arthur Lee & Love and received terrific
reviews in the process. Then, just last year they recorded their second
album Go and now prepare to release this on Re- Action Recordings on
March 5th 2007.
Go was recorded in Scotland with acclaimed producer Nick Brine (Oasis,
Stone Roses, Beta Band, Bruce Springsteen, Teenage Fanclub). It is a
beautifully realised pop record – a cross between Velvet Crush, Flaming
Lips and Teenage Fanclub but also somewhat akin to the kind of record
you could imagine The Byrds coming up with in 2007. The Fannies’ own
Norman Blake engineered all the main vocals (also providing backing
vocals on Go’s memorable opening track Off Course) whilst Raymond
McGinley engineered all the guitars as well as playing on Go’s closing
track Stars & Stripes. The full track listing runs as follows: Off
Course, 2 AM, Sunsets, Out In The Cold, Reach For the Light, The Great
Escape, Make Believe, Lost In Space, Window Shopping, Stars And Stripes.
The Primary 5 will be releasing an absolutely awesome download-only
single entitled Make Believe on January 29th on Re-Action Recordings
Ltd. This is so gloriously ambitious (sequenced strings!) and catchy
with it, that you will find yourselves lying awake at night thinking of
very little else. Suffice to say if you have a penchant for the
bounteous landscapes of bands like Flaming Lips, Felt and Pale Fountains
you are going to absolutely LOVE Make Believe.
The rather clever Mark Radcliffe has already noted that The Primary 5
make “the perfect sun-drenched soundtrack to a Summer that might never
happen” – further, that it’s no more and no less than “mellifluous music
to brighten dismal days.” We can only concur.
The Primary 5 release Make Believe on January 29th 2007 and their album
Go on March 5th 2007, both on Re-Action Recordings Ltd.
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