Send "Primus " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Popmatters |
 It’s not like Primus ever really went away. Their music can still be heard on television all the time, since they did the theme song to South Park. But Green Naugahyde is the band’s first proper album since 1999. The ‘90s saw Primus go from unknown Bay Area underground band to alternative rock headliner to a burnt-out shell of itself. Their success was unlikely, but the alternative rock explosion of the 1990’s helped. Back then, a band that played a bizarre combination of funk, metal, and avant-garde noise and had the bass as its lead instrument could not only find an audience, but it could also become a perennial resident of Billboard‘s charts. Still, Primus’s sound changed drastically with the arrival of new drummer Brian “Brain” Mantia in 1997, and they were clearly running on fumes by 1999’s Antipop, an attempt at a return-to-form album created with outside producers like Tom Morello and Fred Durst.The band’s front man, Les Claypool, spent the majority of the ‘00’s working on various iterations of solo projects and all-star jam band one-offs like Oysterhead. But after a brief hiatus, Primus was back together in 2003 with drummer Tim Alexander. The reconstituted band did release an EP, but Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People was thoroughly mediocre. Still, the band toured here and there throughout the rest of the decade, often playing full-album shows of their early releases like Sailing the Seas of Cheese and Frizzle Fry. But there were no rumblings of new material; at least not until Alexander left the band again in 2010. This time the band replaced him with original Primus drummer Jay Lane (Lane was part of the band when they first started in the late ‘80s, but left before they recorded their first album)....full text |
| Ultimate-guitar |
| Sound: Finally, we get a new Primus album. Les Claypool’s funky slap bass once again is blasting out of my stereo speakers! Jay Lane (absent since 1988) returned in 2010 as drummer, replacing Tim “Herb” Alexander and Jay does an excellent job filling the role. Larry “Ler” LaLonde is on guitar providing weird quirky guitar lines that complement Les’s insane bass lines. This is Primus’s seventh studio release and their first since their hiatus in 2000. While Les Claypool has toured sporadically since 2003, it is great to have a new studio album and the band back as a cohesive unit. ‘Green Nuagahyde’ isn’t a disappointment after Primus’s absence, but instead a promise of more excellent funky weird music to come. The music really ranges from funky/weird to ambient/experimental. Ler provides some truly weird minimalist guitar lines that allow Les’s unique bass lines to shine through the mix to great effect. Considering this lineup of Primus has not been together very long they have really got their playing down very tight and I would love to go see them live, and hopefully they’ll be playing nearby soon. // 9 Lyrics and Singing: Les’s vocal delivery fits in like a jigsaw puzzle piece completing a picture. I personally love vocalists with a lot of character in their voice and Les has this in spades. Not surprisingly, my favorite vocalists are Les Claypool, Dave Mustaine, Lemmy and Isaac Brock. Les did a great job on ‘Green Nuagahyde’ using his voice as an extension of his music instead of something just layered over it. At times his voice is sarcastic, anxious, playful and serious. The lyrics mostly tell stories that are freakishly weird or are borderline nonsensical. The song ‘Hoinfodaman’ is maybe my favorite lyrics, but mainly just the chorus chant of ‘I used to be a pimp, now I’m hoing for da man’. The role of a lyric in a song is either to complement the music or to express ideas as a theme to the song, and Les manages to do both well. Now, the actual ideas he is expressing as themes may not be the types of ideas normally expressed in music, but that is a big part of what makes Primus so awesome. Les’s drawled lyrics are what give his music its distinctive flavor just as much as his aggressive and odd approach to the bass as the main melodic instrument in a rock band. // 8 Impression: ‘Green Nuagahyde’ makes me interested in playing bass guitar. ‘Jilly’s on Smack’ might be my favorite song on the album with almost schizophrenic music backing lyrics delivered in a way dripping with anxiety. My second favorite would have to be ‘Eye of the Squirrel’. I really didn’t encounter any songs I disliked on ‘Green Nuagahyde’ and after I finish this review I will be making room to give this album a semi-permanent place on my mp3 player. I feel like the best tell of a good album/song/artist is if it/they inspires you to pick up an instrument and play and Les Claypool absolutely makes me want to pick up the bass after listening to ‘Green Nuagahyde’. Really the guitar work and drums are really inspiring as well, in large part due to their quirkiness and originality. Sorry, I know I’ve used the word “quirky” a lot during this review but I can’t find a better word...full text |
| Sputnikmusic |
| Has anyone noticed how hard it is to talk about Primus? The band has the unrivaled experience of touring with Rush, U2 and Anthrax, but a simple conversation about their music is difficult without an awkwardly brazen list of circus instrumentation, funk-metal or the word ‘quirk.’ I find myself barely scraping my coherent thought to mention the band's irreverent humor and creative landmarks such as ‘Sailing the Seas of Cheese’ and ‘Pork Soda.’ The very strangeness of forcing myself to write a full scale review on their return album has led me through an unending torture of deleting introductory paragraphs. Well screw it, because I can simply state that Green Naugahyde is a clusterf*ck of amusement. How else can I simplify it? The sheer excitement of hearing Primus again is astounding, and attempting to finish your homework with ‘Extinction Burst’ in the background could lead to hair evaporation, testicular phenomena and the sudden urge to watch Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. My exposure to carnival beat of ‘Eternal Consumption Engine’ quickly escalated into an immoral decision to place the song (as well as the entire album) as the overhead music selection at my local work. Customers consequently looked around themselves in shock and awe to the magnificent sounds of Les Claypool and his mocking lyrics of the obsessive purchasing habits of America complete with the guttural ending “Everything’s made in China!” being repeated multiple times. The new triple mix of Les, Larry and Jay leave plenty of Primus for their fans to absorb. Beneath the quirk they present the troubles of their crack addicted friend with ‘Jilly’s On Smack,’ and Claypool’s childhood with ‘Lee Van Cleef,’ as well as the continuation of the Fisherman Chronicles on ‘Last Salmon Man’ (which bears an odd reminiscence of ‘Los Bastardos’). The dorky side of Primus is still present with ‘Eyes of The Squirrel’ and there is the complete bizarreness of ‘HOINFODAMAN’ and ‘Extinction Burst.’ While every song screams PRIMUS in your eardrums, Green Naughahyde attempts to distinguish itself from previous albums with focused songwriting rather than a flurried mix of random topics. The lead single ‘Tragedy's A' Comin'’ would be a good example of this, complete with an anthem to sing and slapping bass that makes my 93’ Ford sedan shake in fear. Although it's obviously incomparable to hits such as ‘My Name is Mud,’ the track is still what you would expect from Primus; a fun and bouncy playhouse of nonsensical exposure that bridges the 12 year gap from Antipop. Those looking to start exploring Primus would find Green Naugahyde to be more accessible than their previous records....full text |
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