Album Review: Primus – Green Naugahyde

Primus

Green Naugahyde

September 13, 2011

Pros:

• “I used to be a pimp, but now I’m HOINFODAMAN.”
• Jam in “Eyes of the Squirrel” reminiscent of Pink Floyd’s “On the Run”
• Claypool’s tone on “Moron TV”
• Come to think of it, pretty much everything about “Moron TV”
• Is that a jab at John Mayer?  “Eyes of the Squirrel”, 2:34

Cons:

• Too much envelope filter
• White Ranger was superior Mighty Morphin’ Power Ranger to Green Ranger
• Doesn’t top Frizzle Fry

General Admission says:

“Today is going to be the greatest day of your life.”

When we last left Primus, they had just released a comprehensive career-spanning DVD that included classic imagery, live footage, and all the band’s music videos. Accompanying this release was a five-song EP featuring new material with drummer Tim “Herb” Alexander. The package was dubbed Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People, and it represented the first activity from Primus since the group’s last full-length album, 1999′s Antipop.

Animals wasn’t incredibly groundbreaking, or even that incredible, but it was uniquely Primus, and that was satisfying in its own right. Like ‘em or not, there’s no other group out there making noise like these guys. The best thing about the Animals EP wasn’t the collection of videos, and it wasn’t the music; it was knowing somehow, someway, there was another full-length Primus record waiting for us at the end of the rainbow.

And here we are at the end of the rainbow.

It’s difficult to talk about this record without mentioning “Last Salmon Man”, the fourth installment in the Fisherman’s
Chronicles, and easily one of the best songs on the album. Seeing as how this is the first Primus LP in more than a decade, it’s understandable when some of the new material doesn’t sound exactly like the band we last heard in the ’90s. But fittingly, “Last Salmon Man” feels right at home with the rest of the band’s classics, telling the story of a fisherman struggling to meet ends meet, refusing to change professions or head to different waters after making a promise to his dying father.

“Moron TV” is another instant classic. I can’t imagine a track epitomizing a band’s overall vibe more than what this does to Primus, nor can I think of a song where Claypool’s bass sounds any better than it does here.

But the fact of the matter is a lot of this record doesn’t sound like Primus. Instead, it sounds like a Les Claypool solo record featuring Larry LaLonde and Jay Lane. It sounds like the sequel to Of Whales and Woe, or maybe even the Frog Brigade’s Purple Onion. The result isn’t always a bad thing, as two of the “newer” sounding tracks are also two of the best: “Lee Van Cleef”, a reflection of Claypool’s youth, and the Larry LaLonde-driven “HOINFODAMAN.” The former is a bluegrassy tune in the vein of “Iowan Gal”, while the latter will go down as one of the heaviest tracks in the Primus catalog.

The end result is a pretty damn solid record, even if it does fall short of Frizzle Fry, which should still be considered the crowning achievement in the band’s collection of work when the dust settles on Green Naugahyde. The best things about this record are the improvisational jams, the offbeat lyrics, the trademarked Primus oddities, and the fact that Claypool is still coming up with licks we never thought possible.

Album Highlights:

“Last Salmon Man”, “Eyes of the Squirrel”, “Lee Van Cleef”, “Moron TV”, “HOINFODAMAN”

Track List:

1. Prelude to a Crawl
2. Hennepin Crawler
3. Last Salmon Man
4. Eternal Consumption Engine
5. Tragedy’s a’ Comin’
6. Eyes of the Squirrel
7. Jilly’s on Smack
8. Lee Van Cleef
9. Moron TV
10. Green Ranger
11. HOINFODAMAN
12. Extinction Burst
13. Salmon Men