In just 82 seconds, Primal Scream’s ‘Velocity Girl’ became a landmark moment in the nascent indie scene and ignited a band who would become a pivotal part of British music culture. First released as the b-side to their second single ‘Crystal Crescent’ in 1986, ‘Velocity Girl’ reached a wider audience as the opening track on NME’s highly influential ‘C86’ compilation.
Despite the track’s renown, Primal Scream have never reissued ‘Velocity Girl’ or included it on any retrospective albums… until now. Not only is the track now available to stream and download, but it will also be released on 7” vinyl on May 24th along with the brand new song ‘Broken’. This limited edition, single run release will be available exclusively via your local independent retailer.
To coincide with its re-release, Primal Scream also share its first official video – some 33 years after the track was first released. It weaves between frontman Bobby Gillespie’s performance of the song with footage of the iconic actress and model Edie Sedgwick in ‘Ciao! Manhattan’, a film that was completed and released in 1972, a year after her death.
“I had an Edie Sedgwick type character in mind when I wrote ‘Velocity Girl’,” says Gillespie. “I read Jean Stein’s biography about her and I wanted to meet a girl like that. Hanging out with Warhol, The Velvet Underground , Bob Dylan and shooting speed whilst looking absolutely fabulous. Super hip and beautiful. She was the muse. I love her.”
The video was directed by filmmaker, cinephile and musician Douglas Hart, who first worked with Primal Scream on the ‘Screamadelica’ film in 1992.
‘Velocity Girl’ will feature on Primal Scream’s ‘Maximum Rock ‘n’ Roll: The Singles’ which will be released on May 24th via Sony. A celebration of a band with a killer collection of singles, it evolves from rock ‘n’ roll infused with gospel and soul in ‘Movin’ On Up’, to the Stonesy strut of ‘Rocks’ and industrial-funk in the shape of ‘Kill All Hippies’. And that freewheeling attitude never stopped, as evidenced by the anthemic garage-rock meets vintage R&B of ‘Country Girl’ and the creativity of the songs taken from their most recent album, 2016’s ‘Chaosmosis’.
‘Maximum Rock ‘n’ Roll’ is available to pre-order from https://store.primalscream.net/.
Primal Scream will play two intimate warm-up headline shows in Brighton and London next month ahead of the festival season. Their UK dates are:
MAY
20TH HAUNT, BRIGHTON (SPECIAL WARM-UP SHOW)
21ST SCALA, LONDON (SPECIAL WARM-UP SHOW)
24TH ALL POINTS EAST, LONDON
25TH NEIGHBOURHOOD WEEKENDER, WARRINGTON
JULY
19TH LATITUDE, SUFFOLK
AUGUST
10TH SUMMER SESSIONS, EDINBURGH