SAILING THE SEAS OF CHEESE

PRIMUS are one of those hard bands to catagorise, one of those acts that against all odds manages to create music so unique and distinct as to defy proper classification and here we see this band at their creative peak.

For those who don't know PRIMUS is fronted by eccentric vocalist and bass guitarist Les Claypool - a renowned and undeniably talented bassist who fuses the influences of rock funk and occasionally metal into his creations as is well evidenced here, think of a combination between RUSH, FUNKADELIC and FAITH NO MORE. Not to detract from the other band members here as while the bass is often the focus of the music they contribute enormously. Guitarist Larry 'Ler' LaLonde is no slouch LaLonde played with Claypool in an early thrash band 'BLIND ILLUSION', and was a key member in thrash/death metal band POSSESSED (widely regarded as the first death metal band ever) as well as studying under guitar guru Joe Satriani - LaLonde is just as innovative as Claypool with his subtle dissonant, minimalist guitar, it fits in perfectly with Claypool's bass up front and always contributes something interesting. Tim 'Herb' Alexander contributes a lot of my favourite moments on this album with his tight technical well considered drumming.

Sailing the seas of cheese features some of the highlights of PRIMUS' catalog, my particular favourite is Sgt. Baker featuring PRIMUS trademark tight and angular riffage, the song contains some great stop start rhythms and a surprisingly heavy breakdown section which is in my opinion the greatest moment of the album with Alexander on fire with some great double kick triplets and syncopation. 'Jerry was a race car driver' is perhaps PRIMUS' most well known song and received substantial airplay in the 90's and amazingly for a single it's surprisingly good, it has some nice grooves and some tantalizing heavy parts and is a superbly written song. Another top moment is the song 'is it luck' Claypool's bass work is fast and frenetic and amazingly technical, very pacy and aggressive for PRIMUS.

Overall the picture that is painted on this album is slightly reminiscent of that 'weird' uncle you have, strangely lyrical, telling strange stories, a fine sense of humour and just genuinely odd. While it's definately not for everyone, some may be put off by the unconventional approach especially to instrumentation and Claypool's vocals take a bit of getting used to. Highly Recommended to fans of odd, funky, 90's music such as FAITH NO MORE and MR BUNGLE.