Well over a decade since their last album, 1999’s Antipop, it’s like Primus never went away. Which is to say that if you liked bassist/vocalist/all round weirdo Les Claypool’s zany three piece before, you’ll still get off on their idiosyncratic stylings now. Very little has changed in 12 years, outside the band’s drummer.
One can only speculate that quite a large percentage of you would be bass players, as Primus is undoubtedly one of those very rare breeds, a band for bassists. Claypool’s wandering, funky, bass lines are the focus here, consigning virtually everything to a secondary role. Yep, even the vocals. Which is fine, considering the man is such an exquisite player. Does that sustain the interest across 13 tracks and over 50 minutes of music? That is of course in the ear of the beholder.
This album is at its best when it chooses to really funk out, such as on Tragedy’s A’Comin’, whose groove can’t help but get you tapping your feet and bobbing your head. Elsewhere, the emphasis is on the quirk factor over the funk.
If you’re unfamiliar with this band’s extensive body of work (now standing at eight albums since their inception in, believe it or not, 1984), the best way to describe the sounds of Primus is that of quirky experimental funk rock. Are they in fact too quirky for their own good? Again, that’s for the individual to decide. For this writer, who actually digs a little funk and a little strangeness now and then, it’s strictly ‘gotta be in the mood for’ music.
