Primal Scream have always been something of a 'zeitgeist band'. From their early days as a bit-part Jesus and Mary Chain indie-pop side-project to the heady and heavy acid-house days where they helped pioneer a successful crossover between dance and rock, through their 'exile on Rolling Stones Street' and on to their eventual amalgamation of influences on the superbly dark Vanishing Point, the group, led by Bobby

Gillespie, have always had one eye fixed on the past and the other firmly on the present. Screamadelica, the band´s legendary 91 genre bending breakthrough is now considered to be among the most influential records of the decade. Although there remains some question over who exactly is primarily responsible for the albums unique sound (renowned producer Andrew Weatherall is often credited with marrying the groups pre-Screamadelica garage rock with the sounds and textures of house, acid and dub), nothing should detract from the bands vision. And if doubt´s remain over that particular albums origins, then subsequent efforts at least attest to the fact that Primal Scream learned their lessons on future albums and, in doing so, continued to push and pull the boundaries of their sound and style.

If 91 was the second 'Summer of Love' and Screamadelica its Sgt Pepper, then 96s Vanishing Point was Primal Scream´s Altamont. Regressing away from the hazy, warm psychedelic rainbow flavours of their acid-house days, Vanishing Point was the paranoia-induced mantra of a post-drug comeuppance. Having briefly reverted back to the Stones influenced rock and roll swagger with Give Out But Don´t Give Up, Vanishing Point singled a return to electro-voltage treatments, albeit on a far darker trip to the acid-house dance-roots of Screamadelica. It´s templates constantly morphing and shifting between varied states of dance and rock conscious, Vanishing Point takes in the gnarly rock swine of Motorhead, the unshakeable monotonous groove of Krautrock loonies Can, the deepest of dub, the most Northern of soulful and wraps it in a claustrophobic blanket of systematized delusion and speed-freak energy. Subsequent records have seen the band continue to vary their approach from the driving, caustic and heavily political XTRMNTR to this years pristine pop effort Beautiful Future. They´re playing a free gig at the Savoy Theatre as part of the Heineken Music Green Sphere’s event on Tuesday, November 18. Log onto www.heinekengreenspheres.ie to be in with a chance to get tickets.

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