AR: Sailing the Seas of Cheese

Primus - Sailing the Seas of Cheese (1991)

Ah, Les Claypool and the eccentricities of Primus! Reeun Shtaleens, my Rice roommate, and I used to feature this in the freshman year Lovett 314 rotation on occasion back in the day. It's a classic early '90s "alternative metal" rock album that broke Primus into the mainstream on the strength of a couple of MTV hits ("Jerry Was a Racecar Driver" and "Tommy the Cat"). It's unclear why certain weird, offbeat-bands managed to poke their heads out of the abyss in those days, and Primus's prominent nasally spoke-sung vocals, odd rhythms and dissonant vibe would probably have put them low on the odds list. But the catchiness of those two singles, a very unique musical approach, a little funk and just enough of the muscle of proto-metal did the trick enough, and Primus albums managed to worm their way into quite a few suburban CD Logic cases. This one, unfortunately, will worm its way into your sense of calm, too, and I'll admit upfront that it's not one I generally reach for in the collection.

Les Claypool is the bassist / lead singer of Primus, and everything starts and stops with the main man. His slap-bass style utilizes weird rhythms, double-stops and all sorts of technical wizardry in achieving an utterly distinct sound. Because he's covering most if not all of the melodies here, the guitarist can throw left-field wackiness all over the top of thunder-slap riffs - it's a thin but exciting guitar sound, and one that adds a paranoid edge to the affair. Toss in Claypool's inimitable high-pitched speech and some 5/4 or otherwise highly syncopated rhythms, and you've got a generally frantic musical landscape to traverse. It's exciting, dense music, expertly executed with a flair of offbeat humor taboot. Unfortunately, its thundering darkness and repeated dwelling on unease grow a little old, and after a few listens this afternoon, I'm reminded why this doesn't make it back into the player too often these days - it's abrasive and outside of the singles has a tendency to drone / drag.

Claypool is quite obviously a Zappa-descendant and so carries the same sorts of baggage that the Z man does: you either dig him or you don't. I think it may go a step beyond that as StSoC is a particularly *moody* album, one that is just too much dark dissonance in too tight a space - i.e., Zappa seems to vary the game enough to keep from spiralling into something (should you happen not to match its necessary mood) that could give you a skull-crushing headache. So while I appreciate Claypool and Primus's brilliance and occasionally find myself itching for "Jerry," sitting down with this album invariably puts me in a foul state. Too much weird for the sake of weird and, perhaps, that loud, prominent bass is on the wrong resonant frequency for me. (And this is allegedly their most accessible album, too!). With all apologies to the diehard Claypool / Primus fans out there - I am in utter awe of the musical ability here, for sure, so you're perfectly sane in my book - I just can't recommend this album as I don't like to listen to it. Seek out the singles; if that grate sings to you, then more power to you. But Nyet is really glad to put this one away for a while.

Status: Not Recommended
Nyet's Fave: "Jerry Was a Racecar Driver"