Video of the Day: The Primitives
If you're in that part of the Venn Diagram where the circles for fans of late '80s UK indie pop and Stanley Kubrick's Lolita intersect [most of the CM staff are raising their hands at this point], have we got a Friday morning treat for you. Recently-reunited blonde-pop supergroup The Primitives, fronted by the endlessly adorable singer Tracy Tracy, have released their latest single, "Turn Off The Moon."
Originally recorded by teenage filmstar Sue Lyon in 1962 for the flipside of the "Lolita Ya Ya" single (Lyon, of course, played the title role opposite James Mason and Peter Sellers in Kubrick's adaptation ofVladimir Nabokov's supposedly unfilmable novel), "Turn Off The Moon" is one of those simultaneously naff and glorious pop trifles that happened when middle-aged songwriting teams tried to write rock 'n' roll tunes for the kids. The Primitives play it absolutely straight, with just a hint of a Joe Meek vibe, which somehow makes the song even more goofily endearing.
The Primitives' upcoming long-player, Echoes and Rhymes, is an oddball concept album: all covers of similarly obscure '60s/'70s pop songs sung by female vocalists. If this is any indication, it'll be a treat. It's out April 30 on the great Spanish twee-pop label Elefant Records.