![]() ![]() The second side starts off with another ditty before taking a more experimental path. Eleven (named after its eleven-stroke time signature) and Is It Luck are more of the same, hooray. Jerry Was a Race Car Driver is the album’s most recognizable “hit,” and was accompanied by an equally bizarre music video that made inroads with audiences on MTV. American Life features a rare social message from the band, a series of miniature stories (most of Claypool’s lyrics are a type of storytelling). Baker continues the war theme with aggro-funk metal and some premium screaming from Les Claypool. The band combines minimalism with dazzling technical proficiency, a truncheon beating choreographed like a ballet. Here Come the Bastards is Primus gone to war. The opening Seas of Cheese is a little sea ditty because, you know, why not? It’s an invitation into the unusual world of Primus, a harbinger of the strange voyage you’re about to undertake. The band is as weird as ever on this album. Fortunately, the label didn’t try to rein in Primus. ![]() Interscope would prove influential in the alternative metal scene, signing Helmet and Nine Inch Nails. Primus’ third album was their breakthrough into the bigs, sort of, being one of the first albums released on the newly formed Interscope label. It’s ever-fresh, like the musical equivalent of a Twinkie. ![]() I don’t, for example, tire of listening to Sailing the Seas of Cheese. Every Primus song sounds like a Primus song, but to call it formulaic misses the point that Primus is never boring. They’re completely unhinged, yet bound to a rigid diet of drums, bass, guitar and absurd lyrics that immediately distinguishes them from any other band. The last line of the album is probably the best place to start: “These guys are freaks, man.” The music of Primus is an enigma. The band sets sail for the high seas of musical adventure and minor commercial success on their exciting major-label debut. ![]()
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December 2022
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