The name Primal Scream has always been synonymous with experimentation and rock-and-roll excess. Frontman Bobby Gillespie, who started out as a drummer for the Scottish noise-drone band Jesus and Mary Chain, has been a perennial force for nihilistic celebration, and the band's music — whether heavy-lidded and dancey like 1991's Screamadelica, swaggering and Stones-y like 1994's Give Out But Don't Give Up or harsh and electronic like 2000's XTRMNTR, — has been a stupefying soundtrack for altered states and dying brain cells.

It's no surprise then that the band's new album, Evil Heat, is another colorful psychedelic excursion, beginning with the rambling lyrics, "Summer girl/ Suicidal beautiful/ I can see death in me, death in you/ Love is good" ("Deep Hit of Morning Sun") and continuing through a barrage of churning beats, whirring samples, buzzing guitars and dusky, echoing keyboards. Unlike many of the band's past efforts, however, Evil Heat was created without the aid of consciousness-warping chemicals.

"We've just got psychedelic heads, I think," Gillespie said in his working-class Scottish accent from a hotel in Europe. "We see the world in a very fractured way, which is why we make quite druggy music. But I'm straight, man. I've got a child now, and I don't think it's very responsible if you're taking speed every day when you've got a young kid who's 11 months old."

Primal Scream's decision to remain sober wasn't just a reflection of their personal growth; it had almost as much to do with the desire to avoid obstacles that have tripped them up in the past.

"If we were to get f---ed up in the studio like we used to, nothing [productive] would happen," Gillespie explained. "This time we were straight and it was good fun to make and really easy."

A host of special guests added to the excitement. Jesus and Mary Chain member Jim Reid sang on the jaded, electro-fueled "Detroit," which marked the first time he and Gillespie were in the studio together since 1985. In addition, My Bloody Valentine frontman Kevin Shields played guitar on the garage blaster "City" and produced six of the tracks. The other four songs were produced by Two Lone Swordsmen. Gillespie's greatest thrill, though, was working with former Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant, who played harmonica on "The Lord Is My Shotgun."

"He lives near our studio," Gillespie said. "So one day when I was a bit drunk I saw him in the pub and I said, 'Hey Robert, would you like to play harmonica on a psychedelic blues [track] we've got? It sounds like Captain Beefheart meets Throbbing Gristle.' He said, 'Sure,' and he was completely true to his word. We had such a great laugh that day, we were just ecstatic. We were laughing and chatting about music. He's got a very funny attitude about Led Zeppelin. He just makes fun of the whole thing, which is kind of good. He's a really nice guy. He's got no attitude. It was great to have him on the record."

Almost as surprising is the cover of the Lee Hazlewood song "Some Velvet Morning," which features guest vocals by supermodel Kate Moss. Actually, Moss and Gillespie have been good friends for 10 years.

"I met her when she was really young, and I hung out with her on and off," Gillespie said. "Last year we got drunk on the Eurostar train going to Paris, and we were singing Velvet Underground songs. And I said, 'We should do a duet sometime.' She thought I was just taking the piss [joking around], but I was serious."