Primus
Animals Should Not Try To Act Like People

Plasticine puppets on the cover, a bizarre and unusual title... these two clues would be enough to identify the artist in question, Primus!... then upon reading that it's an Ep, some might turn up their noses or even feel disappointed, because the aforementioned have not always excelled in this format, like ten years earlier ('93), with the collection of rarities "Miscellaneous Debris" which almost fell into oblivion, or in '98 with "Rhinoplasty" featuring more or less famous covers, demonstrating how divesting it was to tackle simpler compositions far from the Primus-style.

"Animals should not try to act like people" shows, already from the track titles (once cats, fishermen, tailors... now carpenters, junkies, birds) as the resurrection of that old perspective of interpreting reality (which had somewhat waned in the last albums) through the deeds of subjects that a conservative mindset, which our protagonists seem to oppose in various ways, would stare at with a mix of contempt and indifference, yet find in these 3 eccentrics an almost existential reading key.

Among the five tracks, which, to varying degrees, present a great qualitative response, it is worth proposing primarily the two masterpieces, which could represent the summa of that "psychedelic polka" so experimented and pursued in 15 years of career. "Mary the ice cube" is an alienating and slurred lament, almost a supplication, an impossible escape from the imminent oblivion. The pulsing and redundant effects of the instruments enhance the weight of that atmosphere between the ethereal and the psychedelic, and then "My friend fats", an 8-minute catharsis in some ways quite similar, although experienced with all that cynicism, those bass syncopations, and that attitude between the grotesque and the tragicomic, which are the essence of the best composed between "Pork soda" and "Tales from the punchbowl".

A dark and creaking atmosphere introduces instead "The last superpower Aka Rapscallion", which, while remaining based on the usual hammering funk-metal rhythms persistent since "Suck on this", is, underneath, in the jaunty voice (capable, in few Primus tracks like this, of putting the bass in the background), also a freak homage to maestro Zappa.

"The carpenter and the dainty bird" shows less innovative spark than the others, but not for this less successful, indeed, in moments psych-funk alternate sounds (even) close to minimal trance, and when calm returns, Claypool seasons the stew with an almost rapcore vocal tone, which says it all hehe...

"Pilcher's squad" instead, deviates a bit from the other compositions... two sharp minutes, almost a crossover-hardcore, that abandons psychedelia in favor of speed (around 250 bpm)... the vocals are stunning, who knows if System of a Down from "Mezmerize" (much indebted) ever gave it a look.

In conclusion, juxtaposed to a myriad of bands attempting pointless reunions that, when not achieving good commercial results, nevertheless manage to ridicule and tarnish their image, we have a trio, particularly a bassist, who gets back on the grind, doesn't bend to scams or compromises of any kind, and proposes, in a simple Ep, a small musical parabola representing the best expressed in many albums... It is therefore fitting to say: never was an epitaph more welcome!