Hey kids, it's time for another installment of Levi Feels Old! What would you say if I told you Primus's debut studio album Frizzle Fry was turning 25 this year? If you're me, you'd say "shit, I feel old." But that's OK, aging is a thing that happens. Some of us age better than others, and some albums age better than others, but we all age. I'm not sure how well Frizzle Fry has aged, as I haven't listened to it in at least a decade, but I loved the crap out of this album back when I was first dipping my toes into alternative culture (along with everyone else in America) in the late '80s/early '90s. Frizzle Fry and Sailing the Seas of Cheese were important elements of my soundtrack back then, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.
Many of the KCMU DJs seem fairly dismissive of Primus as just a slightly weirder version of the many funk-rock bands crowding the scene back then, but I must disagree with their assessments, however well-informed they might be. Even though I don't actively listen to them anymore, I think there is something very special and entirely unique about the combination of Claypool, Larry LaLonde, and Tim "Herb" Alexander. I just learned that they have created a new soundtrack to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, which sounds like something that must be experienced to be believed. Who's up for a screening at Seattle Center this summer?
"They're bound to be compared to the Chili Peppers, altho' they've probably been around just as long. At least 2 of these guys used to be in metal bands, & it shows. Weird & twisted lyrics, a vocalist w/a strange, cartoonish voice, & lots of jamming. Gaje will hate it!""They're trying awful hard to be differente and it works occasionally. Played w/the appropriate passion but not melodies to lull you here."
"Do I detect a trend here? Guys from thrash & metal bands who couldn't cut it there decide to get all 'funky' and ride the Chili Peppers' bandwagon - True, this is weirder than the other funk-rock wannabes (did someone say Hungry Crocodiles?), but something about this doesn't ring true."
"For those who got a chance to see 'em open for Jane's Addiction, Primus groove."
My Dad Is Dead is one of those band names that might just sound like a one-liner or an attempt to grab your attention, but in the case of Mark Edwards's solo recording project, legend has it that the music on this debut LP was in fact created in direct response to the loss of his father. With so mu…
I have loved Dutch punk gods The Ex since seeing them open for American punk gods Fugazi way back in nineteen-ought-ninety-something. The sheer, gleeful energy they bring to their discordant, blissfully ragged music is something that truly needs to be beheld live. The records I own of theirs are fa…
