Pure by The Primitives

Pure, the Primitives' second album, came out on RCA in 1989, the follow-up to Lovely and to "Crash", the fizzy hit that had made the Coventry band an international name. The lineup had shuffled in the meantime: Paul Sampson took over bass from Steve Dullaghan and co-produced the record with Wayne Morris, while Tracy Tracy's sugar-rush vocals and Paul Court's jangling, buzzing guitar still sat at its centre, with Tig Williams on drums.

It's a slightly tougher, glossier record than the debut without losing the sweetness. "Sick of It" became the first American single and got to number 24 in Britain, "Secrets" stalled at 49, and "Way Behind Me", a single from 1988, gets another airing here. There's a cover of the Velvet Underground's "I'll Be Your Mirror" too, which tells you exactly where their hearts lay.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.