The famous funk metal band Primus (“John the Fisherman”) released their latest EP “Conspiranoid” on April 22, which features 3 songs. It is the band’s first new music since their album “The Desaturating Seven” in 2017. True to their weird and wonderful nature, the title track is nearly 12 minutes long and commentates on “the mental state of the contemporary world,” as frontman Les Claypool said in an interview with online music news outlet Consequence Sound.
The cover of the new EP features a painting of a man with an exaggerated nose surrounded by a floating gear and a couple of other contraptions. The caricature harkens back to early prog-rock art, almost reminiscent of the stone heads seen on Pink Floyd’s (“Wish You Were Here”) 1994 album “The Division Bell.”
Think of Primus as a sort of cousin to Rush (“Tom Sawyer”). In fact, Primus is currently in the middle of their tribute tour to Rush, titled “A Tribute to Kings”, in which they will be performing Rush’s 1977 album “A Farewell To Kings,” according to udiscovermusic, another music news outlet. This will of course be in addition to the band’s own music. Primus is certainly one of the more prominent “weird” bands, with odd album names to match. They are known for past hits such as “Pork Soda” and “Sailing the Seas of Cheese.” Claypool is credited with having written the original “South Park” theme song.
Few words that exist in the English language that can describe the title track “Conspiranoid.” It is straight up weird. You may want to skip it, but you get so invested in the journey that Primus is taking you on that you cannot bring yourself to do it. The lyrics offer a delightfully strange commentary of the odd things we have witnessed in the pandemic. The verse about “Marion Barrion” is quite obviously a type of reference to those who were taking Ivermectin, a medicine for horses, instead of getting vaccinated during a surge in the pandemic.
Aside from the crazy winding epic of a song that is the “Conspiranoid” track, the other two songs hold their own. “Follow The Fool” is funky, catchy and totally weird. The bassline is deep and low, sounding very similar to ZZ Top’s (“Legs”) “La Grange.” It asks who “the fool” is, in a never ending loop of fools. If you are not listening for a political meaning, it is easy to jam along. For what occasion is not clear, but it sounds like the kind of song your Generation X uncle would listen to in his garage.
The song “Erin On The Side Of Caution” starts out with just drums, and as the song goes on, more chaos is added in. It sounds like a dark Oingo Boingo (“Dead Man’s Party”) song. One could argue that Primus was influenced by Oingo Boingo, because it was formed in 1984 when Boingo already was releasing its fourth album “So-Lo”, and the two bands are both from California. In reality, Primus cites Rush as its primary influence, among other greats such as King Crimson (“Starless”) and The Residents (“Boots”). Influences aside, “Erin On The Side Of Caution” is a journey in and of itself. This is a song you listen to if you are in the mood for nu-metal, but nothing crazy.
If you are looking for something funky and political, and if you want to feel how early Pink Floyd fans felt, you will enjoy this EP.
Image from officialprimus via YouTube
