Primus – Green Naugahyde
Prawn Song Records
September 13th, 2011
Score: 8.0
A 12-year wait is rewarding for wine and horrifying for milk. Thankfully, Primus come off like viniculture. In the interim since Antipop, the band has found vast new fields in which to raise the tents of their haunted-cartoon-carnival-sideshow-funk.
As expected, everything revolves around Les Claypool’s virtuoso bass lines. Even before pushing a subwoofer’s limits, you can feel Green Naugahyde as much as listen to it. At the right volume, your neighbors might just feel it too. There’s no better way for audiophiles to piss off their neighbors than by enjoying Primus in the evening. To the great dismay of the couple living below me, Green Naugahyde is enjoyable 24/7.
After the ominous, hovering crescendo of ‘Prelude To A Crawl’, an immensely enjoyable playfulness consumes this record. ‘Hennepin Crawler’ reveals a band at top form, challenging themselves creatively, and technically. Disparate elements and stylings fall into the melody as though the composition were guided by caprice, and yet everything works together like a superbly imagined playground. Later, on ‘HOINFODAMAN’, a liberal sprinkling of marketing slogans brings a smile to my face every time they come around. ‘Extinction Burst’ pushes the boundaries of prog-rock jam until it resembles the deranged, and questionably dangerous, secret cousin of a Rush song… and what could be more fun than that?
Adding to the album’s intrigue is the playful musicianship which is coupled with highly topical and passionate lyrics. ‘HOINFODAMAN’, with all its chuckle-inducing lyrical phrases, makes for spot-on commentary on the marketer’s incessant push into the artistic space. With lines like “I used to be a pimp, now I’m ho’ing for ‘da man’, it may also make a statement on how artists succumb to the allure offered by corporate bargaining.
‘Jilly’s on Smack’ is the album’s haunting heavyweight. The playfulness that dominates elsewhere on the record is focused here into a laser beam. A descent into addiction, by its very nature, makes for grippingly disturbing narratives and Primus’ straightforward telling of how Jilly gradually distanced herself from friends and family is no exception. Beautifully dark cries of “Jilly’s on smack and she won’t be coming back for the holidays”, burn their way into your skull. Green Naugahyde presents listeners with a lot of gems, but even still, ‘Jilly’s on Smack’ rises above. Far scarier than any nightmare, this is real.
Yes, time has been good to Primus. Hopefully, it won’t be another 12 years before we hear from them again.
Jeremy Schaefer