Year in Rock 2011 Nominee: Primus

PRIMUS
Jilly's On Smack

From: Green Naugahyde
Released: September 13

For years, Primus had been teasing us; after reuniting in 2003 and touring sporadically, eight excruciating years passed before a full album's worth of new material surfaced.  With only five new songs released as an EP alongside 2003's DVD collection Animals Should Not Try To Act Like People, longtime Primus fans were ravenous by the time Green Naugahyde finally saw the light of day in September.  Of course, the first question that begged asking in this situation was "is it worth the wait?"  Upon first reflection, the answer is "not quite"; it's not a very Primus-like album, despite that definitely being their name on the cover.  Frankly, it lacks much of the silliness that endeared the band to so many in their heyday.  Anyone looking for a sequel to Wynona's Big Brown Beaver is shit out of luck with Green Naugahyde.  It's a serious album, with serious subject matter; commercialism, the dumbing of civilization through reality TV and, yes, drug abuse are covered here.  It's not an entirely new concept, of course; anyone who's given The Brown Album more than a passing glance has noticed some dark subtext in its lyrics.  It's just that on Green Naugahyde, Les Claypool doesn't sneak it in, choosing instead to speak upfront and without smokescreening.  It's a byproduct of his past decade's solo work which, while often retaining his silly exuberance, showed maturity and sensibility moreso than quirkiness and absurdity.

This isn't to say that Green Naugahyde isn't a solid album.  It's just not the album you expect if you haven't been paying attention in the twelve years that have elapsed since Antipop.  One has to accept that things have changed before they can truly appreciate this album.  It's not a 180; Les still plays a mean bass (although the central complaint from haters is the overuse of effects on Green Naugahyde, and it's hard not to see their point), and the band is still tight together.  The most noticeable difference between Primus in 1999 and Primus in 2011 is that the blow has been softened somewhat; there's not a lot of straight-up rock to be heard on Green Naugahyde, and that pill is a little harder to swallow if you read pre-release interviews where comparisons were drawn (by Claypool) to their staggering, metallic debut Frizzle Fry.  However, what they lack in punch they make up for in groove.  There's no better illustration of this on the album than Jilly's On Smack, a hazy epic that calls to mind Pink Floyd (whom Claypool has long admired, often performing their songs live) and U2, sometimes simultaneously.  With a combination like that, it was built for concert halls, which is where Primus has always shone.  And, if they didn't exactly bring the thunder in studio, we've always got live clips on YouTube.