Give Out But Don't Give Up

Always teetering on a tightrope with revved-up dance music on one side and rootsy down-home rock ‘n’ roll on the other, Primal Scream followed up its innovative and celebrated opus Screamadelica with 1994’s Give Out but Don’t Give Up, an album steeped in Southern heartland boogie rock. Give Out . . . served up a hearty helping of greasy Stones- and Faces-inspired music not too dissimilar from The Black Crowes’ The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion (released just two years prior). There are a good grip of songs that have ripened well over the years, like the soulful opening “Jailbird” and the album’s only single, “Rocks,” a hard-stomping, hand-clapping, hair-shaking, barroom beast of a hit that sounds like a long-lost gem from Exile on Main Street-era Stones. On Creation Records’ dime the band even landed the Memphis Horns in the studio, as well as the legendary George Clinton, who gave the title track and “Funky Jam” a heavy dose of authenticity.