It's a big day when Les Claypool can get his classic lineup together to show up at a festival for an appearance. It's even wilder when the classic lineup regroups and populate a new release. It's great to hear Tim Alexander on the kit, even though this is hardly his best work, given that he's gone through turbulent health hazards he's battled to even sustain his existence, and it's certainly great to hear him behind the drums.
So it goes without saying just how disappointing it is to hear the seven tracks as lackluster as what's on this album. Aside from "The Scheme" and that sweet bass lick throughout "The Storm," it's clear the record is just meant to linger for festival goers to crowd surf themselves silly too. Claypool rarely vocalizes, there's hardly a lick of rhythm in the barely-audible lurking tracks, and it's not too clear what the band was hoping to accomplish here.
It's still necessary because it's Primus. But in their highly regarded catalogue, this is an instantly forgettable release. Maybe not so much for its momentum and the fact that the original lineup got back together again, but for the lack of creative collection and flat meandering from a group of highly talented individuals who, as Irvine Welsh once put it, "thought they could just photocopy their phone bill a thousand times, and have a best seller."
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