FRIZZLE FRY

Frizzle Fry is the debut studio album from American experimental funk/ metal/ rock act Primus. Primus released a live album called Suck on This in 1989, but Frizzle Fry is their official studio debut. Primus is one of those bands that falls under the catagory Aquired Taste. Either people love them or people hate them. I´m a freak case though as I´m caught in the middle. I have always respected Primus for their outstanding musicianship, but on the other hand never really enjoyed their music much. I have to say that this is a rough generalization as I do enjoy some of their songs.

The music on Frizzle Fry is funky rock/ metal which is dominated by Les Claypool´s slap and tab bass lines and Tim Herb Alexander´s excellent drumming. The dissonant guitar lines from Larry LaLonde ( Former member of thrash metal legends Possessed)was never my cup of tea, but they are a great part of Primus sound too. Les Claypool has a very distinct almost spoken vocal style which can be compared to both David Byrne ( Talking Heads) and Adrian Belew ( Frank Zappa, King Crimson). The songs are generally pretty basic in structure and it´s more the innovative interplay between the musicians that´s progressive than the actual songs IMO.

The album starts in grand fashion and I´m left wondering why I don´t like this band more than I do. The first six songs are actually pretty good. Songs like Too Many Puppies and the title track are very good songs IMO. The problem with Frizzle Fry is that the quality drops after song number six John the Fisherman. Or maybe it´s not the quality that drops. Maybe the songs just seem too similar and the style just gets generic after a while? The conclusion is that I get bored about half way through the album.

The musicianship is as I mentioned above outstanding. Both Les Claypool and Tim Herb Alexander are distinct and excellent musicians. It´s a real treat to listen to their many innovative ideas. I´m sure that if you can enjoy the dissonant guitar style from Larry LaLonde you´ll feel the same way about him. There´s nothing wrong with his technical skills that´s for sure.

The production is excellent. It´s loud and metallic.

Frizzle Fry is not an album I listen to very often. In fact it was very dusty when I took it down from my shelf to make this review. I do enjoy some features on the album even though this is not my favorite type of music. One of those features is the outstanding musicianship, but I also enjoy the weird humour that always surrounded everything Primus did. This is high quality music and even though I´m not a fan I´ll rate it 3 stars. I just wish I could sail in a sea of cheese with John the Fisherman.