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Class 6(66)
Primus: Sailing the seas of cheese
16/02/14 || Cobal
Introduction
The relevance of this record is crystal clear: 23 years after its release, nobody—and I mean nobody—has even got close to beating Les Claypool’s killer bass magic. Yep, this guy’s skills are way out of almost everybody’s league. And yes, this is mainly a bass playing lesson, other than a rock album, let alone metal at all. The reason why I decided to publish an article on such record in a death metal-specialized webzine is it’s all about riffs! Bass riffs that put ninety nine percent of guitar heroes out there to shame. Now, how can such a minimalistic approach to funk rock keep things impressive and fun at the same time? Let’s see.
Songwriting
6. While overall original, songwriting might be Primus’ weakest point, even in this second full-length album and allegedly Primus at their most fun. In it, good old Les and company go for rather short, texture-based songs that manage to keep things interesting with small variations within the structure of each track. In fact, many of them are actually single riff-based, except such riffs are top notch. However, this isn’t necessarily true for “Fish On”, the second delivery of “Fisherman’s Chronicles”, a four-part story told along several albums, and to which Primus imprinted a more progressive feel. For an album entitled “Sailing the Seas of Cheese”, there’s very little cheese to be found, quite on the contrary: I’d rather say this is probably one of the most honest albums I’ve ever listened to.
Production
9. Clear and detailed. Little else to say.
Guitars
8. Not that there’s anything wrong with his work, but let’s be clear: Larry Lalonde’s only job is to accompany and add some salt and pepper to the bass lines. He does it well, but no one’s gonna listen to Primus in search of epic guitar leads.
Vocals
7. Not that Claypool is a particularly gifted vocalist, but he knows his shit and puts it to good use. Theatrical and potent, the vocals are perfectly suitable to sing along, and not get frustrated at trying.
Bass
10. What else did you expect? Fun, impressive and timeless. All these adjectives fit the bass lines in this record well, and with no exaggeration.
Drums
8. Everything I said about the guitars is also true for drums.
Lyrics
8. “She whispered in my ear. She said ‘You want to get lucky little boy?’” Laid-back, natural and amusing lyrics that have no ambition other than providing the music with a theme that’s of course intentionally absurd. Some might say they’re nonsense, that’s the problem with confusing pose and badassness.
Cover art
6. The title of the album is “Sailing the Seas of Cheese” and on the cover we get a ship. A ship that’s sailing… Sailing something yellow… Err… Something that resembles yellow cheese. How smart. I can’t give it a failing grade, you see, after all, it fits the joke-vibe of the whole thing.
Logo
6. Just like so many other bands I dig, Primus have never had a distinguishing logo. Instead, they’ve tried different fonts to write their name with, fittingly with the overall composition of the cover art. This one here’s simple and probably irrelevant but it works.
Overall and ending rant
With so many tracks that became fans’ favorites over the years—namely “Here Come the Bastards”, “Sgt. Baker”, “American Life”, “Is It Luck?” and “Tommy the Cat”—this is the record that every rock and metal instrumentalist should come back to in order to learn a couple things. And take a plunge into it you should as well, for you cannot wish for a better dose of funk-oriented hard music. Not bad for a power trio, uh?
- Information
- Released: 1991
- Label: Interscope
- Website: www.primusville.com
- Band
- Les Claypool: vocals, all kinds of bass guitars and whatnot
- Larry Lalonde: guitars, 6 strings banjo
- Tim “Herb” Alexander: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. Seas of Cheese
- 02. Here Come the Bastards
- 03. Sgt. Baker
- 04. American Life
- 05. Jerry Was a Race Car Driver
- 06. Eleven
- 07. Is It Luck?
- 08. Granddad’s Little Ditty
- 09. Tommy the Cat
- 10. Sathington Waltz
- 11. Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweekers
- 12. Fish On
- 13. Los Bastardos
