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Post by Hector Salamanca on Feb 11, 2020 15:40:57 GMT -5
Primus
“Where you going, city boy?”
General Info:
Members: Les Claypool - Bass, lead vocals Larry “Ler” LaLonde - Guitar, backing vocals Tim “Herb” Alexander - Drums
Forming in the Bay Area in the 80s, Primus is a band that has always defied labels, combining sounds of metal, funk, psych, and whatever else you can name. Since some early lineup shuffling, the group’s core two members have been Les Claypool and Larry “Ler” LaLonde for the entirety of their career with a semi-rotating cast of drummers, the current one of which is Tim “Herb” Alexander, who made his return in 2014 after stints in the band for their first 4 studio albums and a second in the 2000s.
Primus’s first release was a live record titled Suck On This in 1989, followed by their studio debut Frizzle Fry in 1990. These two releases, coupled with 1991’s Sailing The Seas Of Cheese established the band as a pioneer of innovation within the large umbrella of rock/metal, with irreverent lyrics and Claypool’s bass as a lead instrument keeping their sound simultaneously heavy and groovy. Primus continued to evolve their sound with Pork Soda in 1993 and Tales From The Punchbowl in 1995. Their first four studio records are largely considered the height of their discography, with lineup and directional changes following.
In 1997, the band released The Brown Album with Bryan “Brain” Mantia replacing Alexander on drums and kept this lineup for 1999’s Antipop with the latter bringing in several guest musicians and producers, thought to be the low point of their recorded career by many, although not without highlights. Primus at this point began to be categorized within the nu-metal genre, participating in tours such as Korn’s Family Values and Ozzfest and eventually went on hiatus in 2000.
In 2003, Alexander rejoined the band for the 5-track Animals Should Not Try To Act Like People EP and a number of subsequent tours, which again lead to a hiatus in 2008 until 2010 when Jay Lane, who had drummed for Primus in the late 80s before Alexander’s original time in the band, came aboard for tours and 2011’s Green Naugahyde, Primus’s first full-length original record in 12 years.
Lane continued in the band through 2013 when he left to play with Bob Weir in RatDog, opening the door for Alexander to return once again. 2014 saw the release of a full-length, reimagined cover of theWilly Wonka & The Chocolate Factoryentitled Primus & The Chocolate Factory. The “classic lineup” of Les, Ler, and Herb remains today and most recently released The Desaturating Sevenin 2017, a concept album based off of a children’s book entitled The Rainbow Goblinsoutlining a group of goblins that attempt to steal all of the colors from rainbows and marked the most prog-based sound on a record yet.
After carving out their own lane in the 80s and 90s, Primus remains a chameleon, taking the alt-metal route in the late 90s and evolving to a jammier, proggressive sound that reflects in both their studio and live work. A truly remarkable mix of uniqueness and longevity, 2020 will mark Primus’s third appearance at Bonnaroo (previously on the farm in 2004 and 2011, plus a number of other appearances from Les “The Mayor of Bonnaroo” Claypool (suck it, Chance) with other projects such as Oysterhead and The Claypool Lennon Delirium) and is not a set to be missed.
Major Discography: Suck On This (1989) Frizzle Fry (1990) Sailing The Seas Of Cheese (1991) Pork Soda (1993) Tales From The Punchbowl (1995) The Brown Album (1997) Antipop (1999) Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People (2003) Green Naugahyde (2011) Primus & The Chocolate Factory (2014) The Desaturating Seven (2017)
Sounds Like (this is the hardest section of any, by far - there’s no one label to slap on these guys nor are there a lot of other names that sound like them): Genre: Prog-metal, funk metal, psych-funk-metal, alternative hard rock, you tell me Similar Artists: Oysterhead, Tool, Rush I guess
Suggested Listening: Frizzle Fryand Sailing The Seas Of Cheeseare widely considered the two best starting points for Primus’s discography. Following these, the two other of the “core four” are the follow-ups with Pork Sodaand Tales From the Punchbowl, records that continued the sounds explored on the first two albums and with two of Primus’s bigger hits in My Name is Mud and Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver, respectively.
If you need more after that, the 2003 EP Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People is a hidden gem. There is no Primus album not worth listening to.
Physical Reaction/Live Show: Primus’s live show is one that can be easily tailored for their environment. You’ll find them on festival lineups like Hulaween and Summer Camp, but also opening for bands such as Tool in 2016 or Slayer last year. Since Jay Lane’s stint in the late 2000s-early 2010s, Primus has drifted to a jammier live sound and it stands to reason that will be the kind of set we get on the farm, hopefully late night in a tent.
The Bonnaroo set will most likely be heavy on material from Frizzle Fry and Sailing The Seas Of Cheese, but shows in recent years have begun to mix in more tunes from Pork Soda, Tales From The Punchbowl, and The Brown Album as well, so very little is off the table. There will probably also be a song or two each from The Desaturating Seven and Green Nagahyde. Unfortunately, they haven’t touched anything from Animals Should Not Try To Act Like People since the 2003/2004 tours. Recently, they’ve started to do a number of medleys and segues, with Too Many Puppies -> Sgt. Baker -> Too Many Puppies being a consistent presence in live sets, as well as mixing together a few tracks that Les uses his 6-string fretless for,such as Professor Nutbutter’s House of Treats, Welcome To This World, and My Name is Mud.
Many songs will feature extended jams in the middle as well. Groundhog’s Day is always a highlight for this, and if we’re lucky enough to see a Tommy the Cat (pretty infrequent these days), same thing for that. There will probably be some moshing, as Primus doesn’t shy away from their heavier material even as their live show has gone in a different direction. Lastly, Les Claypool is one of the best rock bassists of all time and seeing him do his thing in person never gets less impressive.
Below are some videos of the last time Primus was at Bonnaroo (although with Jay Lane on drums) and some other festival pro-shots:
If you’ve made it this far, here’s a full show from last year opening for Slayer with the current lineup. It’s a bootleg, but quality enough to listen in full:
Interesting Facts: Les once tried out for Metallica (post-Cliff Burton death) and had no idea they were popular. Obviously, it wasn’t a fit.
Personal Notes: This will be my 9th Primus show and first since 2017. I have been wanting to see a Primus set on the farm since I started listening to them and discovered some recordings of their 2004 late night set. Easily my number one anticipated act for 2020 and hope to see some of y’all there.
Sounds Like (this is the hardest section of any, by far - there’s no one label to slap on these guys nor are there a lot of other names that sound like them): Genre: Prog-metal, funk metal, psych-funk-metal, alternative hard rock, you tell me Similar Artists: Oysterhead, Tool, Rush I guess
Suggested Listening: Frizzle Fryand Sailing The Seas Of Cheeseare widely considered the two best starting points for Primus’s discography. Following these, the two other of the “core four” are the follow-ups with Pork Sodaand Tales From the Punchbowl, records that continued the sounds explored on the first two albums and with two of Primus’s bigger hits in My Name is Mud and Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver, respectively.
