Stars Fell on the Magic City......Birmingham's Primitons Anthologized At Last

Been listening to a pretty fine little reissue from Arena Rock Records, Don't Go Away: Collected Works by Primitons, a very good 80's melodic rock band from Birmingham, Alabama. The record collects their entire recorded output, through several lineup changes. I don't recall hearing about them when they were originally putting out records, but I wish I had. The band name is a mash-up of  "Primitive Tones".

Don't forget the Magic City....

R.E.M. comparison are inevitable with the Primiton's music, but not entirely accurate. If you love the music of R.E.M., I don't think this album would be a tough sell. But in some ways they are poppier, and other points they rock out a bit more. They actually remind me a bit of  the Country Punk of Jason and the Scorchers at times. They rock out fairly righteously when not jangling. They must have been a very great act to see in a club.

At times they are kind of Psychedelic garage sounding like the raga-like guitar coda on Gabrielle. And three passes through this album I'm listening to Seeing is Believing, and I keep thinking that they were influenced by 60's groups like The Monkees. And I mean that in the most complimentary way. The Monkees got to me through the television at an impressionable age and have left an indelible impact on my pop sensibilities. And whether or not they wrote a lot of their more memorable songs, I don't care all that much. They left the musical world a great body of work. And probably any kid with access to a TV watched them.

The tendency for some people is to disparage their music, but if you don't believe me, read Robert Forster's excellent essay on The Monkees from his 10 Rules of Rock N' Roll. The former Go-Between is nearly as excellent as a music essayist as he is at penning song lyrics. While you're at it, I recommend you read all the essays in his book!



Primitons definitely have a southern charm to them, without falling into cliches. It's like having a sensibility and world view from being born and raised in a place, but not necessarily fitting into longstanding traditions. Like on the song You'll Never Know, Mats Roden sings about his "hair being on fire". In the album liner notes, he said that the song was about his closeted sexuality, sort of like, C'mon do I really need to say it?

Mats Roden:Vocals, Guitar, Keys
Brad Dorset: Vocals, Guitar, Keys
Leif Bondarenko: Drums, Accordian
Don Tinsley: Bass, Vocals
Stephanie Truelove Wright: Lyrics

Don't Go Away is chock full of highpoints, like the melodic jangle of Stars Falling on Alabama, which was one of their most popular songs. Or Something on My Mind, which sounds like a long lost Hollies song. Or a beautiful ballad with subtle harmonizing like Happy All the Time. Don't Go Away, the title track is a pop monster. Randomly put a track on and it will probably be terrific.



For all the 20, 25, 30, 40 year deluxe anniversary reissues of well-know albums that keep coming out, it's more gratifying for me when a compilation like this comes out after all these years. Seemingly out of left field. Primitons were a really great band that have finally gotten their body of work released. Fans of Athens Georgia's finest, The dB's, Big Star, Velvet Crush, Lets Active, Jason Ringenberg & Co., will be delighted with this recording! Please support labels that put out releases like this, because people who produce reissues of this caliber definitely need to be incentivized.