Primus
June 2010 Rehersal

Nothing from Primus must remain outside of Debaser!!

Every one of their releases (album, live, EP, single, various etc.) must be presented and reviewed here by us.

Just yesterday, as I uttered some words better left unmentioned, I realized that this extended play is still without a review... sigh sigh!!

And being myself one of the foremost experts, not only here, on the cousin Les' band, I think it's very appropriate for me to take care of the phonographic support in question today.

A collection of four little songs that our guys made available and downloadable on their website in August 2010; immediately and with my usual eagerness, I got hold of the whole thing, as usual, getting "struck" by such beauty. Because, as I've repeated a few hundred times, Les and his brave collaborators have been my musical peak for almost thirty years; nothing and no one can ever dislodge them from the dominant position they have assumed!!

Thus spoke De...Marga...dot dot and on we go!!!

Let's leave the proclamations aside now. So, where do we start?

Let's start by saying that these are four songs previously released: two can be found on the first album Frizzle Fry (1990), one you can find on Sailing The Seas Of Cheese (1991) and finally one on the Brown Album, better known by the appellation, which you might call obvious, of Brown Album (1997).

There's the new drummer Jay Lane to introduce, even though the term new isn't quite fitting: Jay has actually collaborated with Primus at the end of the eighties. It's a much-welcomed return; Les wants to play it safe, he doesn't want to have problems with unknown collaborators; a trial, a kind of rehearsal to get the band in shape for their 2011 sensational and almost unexpected discographic return...but that's another story, let's stay on the EP.

The tracks are re-recorded in Les' studio, that Rancho Relaxo located directly in the bassist’s home in El Sobrante, California. Production and mixing are "artfully" handled by the trio, like much of the production carried out by Primus. They have fun, they have nothing to prove. Free to do it their way; out of fashion, out of norms. Also, because of the absolute freedom they've always showcased, they are the number ONE for me!!!

Coming at this point to discuss the tracks, I have very little to say. But I don't want to be misunderstood: I could talk about every single Primus composition for hours, since I practically know their extensive discography by heart. From a careful listen, considering the original versions, one can immediately notice an even more emphasized executive freedom: instrumental digressions that make the duration substantial. Les' bass is the beacon, the safe guide for Larry's "disorganized" guitar; and Jay doesn't have to do anything but follow the two companions, supporting the imposing work of the string instruments with his tight, calculated, dynamic drumming.

A spectacular demonstration of innate class is provided by the group in the domineering and powerful execution of American Life; everything is calculated, mathematical. Nothing is out of place. With that liquid pulsating bass in the central part of the song that is pure auditory pleasure: hypnotic, free minutes, with a Psycho-Progressive gait. Les resumes his frenzied and nasal singing, until the final explosion, the imperious instrumental orgy. Applause-worthy, no stories.

Once again, top marks!!

Ad Maiora.