Review Summary: I: It's Primus at their most adolescent; a clearly talented trio who have yet to tighten the bolts in their trademark sound.
Primus were one of the most ruthlessly creative bands to ever emerge from the budding petals of alternative metal. When you’re bizarre enough to net your own genre tag on the now-dissolved Winamp media player, you’ve definitely reached a new level of uniqueness. With the 80’s winding down and alternative music slowly catching the ears of the mainstream, Primus made their move at the perfect time. They were heavy, grimy and weird; nothing in rock in sounded like them. Like their peers in
Jane’s Addiction, Primus made their debut with a live recording instead of a full studio LP.
Suck on This is Primus’ first official recording, and while its lack of production and incredibly unwound aesthetic prevents it from being in the same class as the band’s later LP’s, it’s still a fine example of why Primus were so interesting in the boom of alternative music that eventually ruled the 90’s.
Every song on
Suck on This was later recorded with a studio version. For example, “Pressman” would later be released on
Pork Soda, and the bass-tacular “Tommy the Cat” would be released on the band’s breakout LP
Sailing the Seas of Cheese. “Jellikit” eventually became “Bastardizing Jellikit” on the soundtrack for the film
Airheads, while “The Heckler” wouldn’t get a studio recording until 1999, when it was included as a hidden track after “Coattails of a Dead Man” from the band’s
Antipop record. The rest of the songs would appear on the band’s debut album
Frizzle Fry a year later.
Despite these songs being released across so many albums, Primus’ main vibe on
Suck on This is actually pretty consistent. It’s a sound that perfectly captures the heaviness displayed on
Frizzle Fry. Les Claypool’s skills on the bass are what has always set Primus apart from its alternative metal peers. As a big fan of
Rush bassist Geddy Lee (which makes sense, because the album opens with Claypool playing the intro to Rush’s “YYZ”), Claypool was never content with using the bass guitar solely as a backbeat rhythm instrument. Much like his work on
Frizzle Fry, Claypool’s bass on
Suck on This is very noticeable. Claypool’s heavy power chord twangs and thumbing taps have a much more metal sound than any of the bands’ contemporaries. It resonates strongly and finally lets the bass guitar get a starring role on stage. The thunderous bass pounds in “Pudding Time” compliment the fantastically intricate bass lines in “Tommy the Cat”, making Claypool’s bass style a heavy prog instead of a goofier metal. But to make up for that, Claypool’s vocal style, which is part Zappa and part carnival announcer, has provided a nasally spectacle to the band’s vibe. His yodeling slides in “Frizzle Fry” and snarling storytelling in “John the Fisherman” are just a couple of examples of his vocal versatility, while keeping the weird factor at a profound high.
Despite many of the songs sharing roots with former members, guitarist Todd Huth and drummer Jay Lane along with Claypool, they are also fantastic ways to show off the skills of guitarist Larry “Ler” LaLonde and drummer Tim “Herb” Alexander. LaLonde’s sharp, dirty guitars emit a rougher, more freeform version of his history in thrash metal in songs like “Harold of the Rocks”, while Tim “Herb” Alexander’s light and jazzy rhythms on the drumkit reach a fever pitch with his amazing solo on “Jellikit.” Of all of Primus’ recordings,
Suck on This does have the roughest and least refined aesthetic. Its freedom from production definitely gives it an underground vibe. However, while many of these recordings are fine, it’s very difficult to say that they surpass their studio counterparts. “Tommy the Cat”, despite being one of the best bass songs ever written and performed, tends to wobble on its tempo in the live version, making it sound almost too open-door. While the guys in Primus have prided themselves on lots of improvisation in their live shows, the performances on
Suck on This are not so much improvised, but just played very loosely (which makes sense, since Claypool, LaLonde and Alexander had been playing together for just a couple months). That might appeal to some, but most of these songs were much improved upon hitting the studio.
Suck on This is about as adolescent and budding a recording as a band can make, but that’s hardly a bad thing, especially considering how incredibly different Primus was from everything else in rock at the time. Its live atmosphere shows a band who simply did not care about how weird they were, embracing the idea of going against the grain and never taking themselves seriously. But despite their ridiculous lyrics and goofy presentation, the guys in Primus are clearly educated in progressive rock and jazz, along with metal. All three members of the trio are virtuosos at their respective instruments and
Suck on This doesn’t hesitate in showing that at all. However,
Suck on This is not an essential recording for anyone outside of the most dedicated Primus fans simply because of the less-structured nature of the performance. All of these songs are fantastic, but their studio recordings are much tighter and more enjoyable than how they appear on
Suck on This. If you’re a newcomer to the weird world of Primus,
Suck on This probably won’t hook you in the same way it would to a long-time prawn follower, but for anyone who wants to see one of rock’s most unclassifiable groups in their freshest form,
Suck on This is still worth fishing around for.
