Review Summary: XII: It's the most un-essential release in Primus' entire catalog.
It really was too good to be true, wasn’t it? For the first time in seven years, the original Primus lineup felt like it was finally ready to set the world on fire once again. The return of Tim Alexander to the kit gave the band new life on the
Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People EP, but that new life was short-lived, as Alexander’s interest in Primus waned, causing him to eventually leave the band again in 2010. But Les Claypool and Larry LaLonde pressed forward and enlisted the skill of Jay Lane, one of Primus’ earliest drummers. Lane’s return was celebrated with the
June 2010 Rehearsal EP, featuring re-recordings of four tracks spreading across Primus’ career. The EP is a straight-ahead way to re-associate with Lane’s role in Primus, and it’s by no means a terrible release, but it’s also one of the least essential recordings in Primus’ entire catalog.
Unless you’ve been a hardcore Prawn for decades, Lane’s place in Primus is probably pretty obscure to you. While Primus originally operated under the name Primate with a variety of drummers, Lane was the last drummer for the band prior to Alexander’s lengthy (and legendary) stint. He recorded with the band on their second demo,
Sausage, which was also the name for the side-project formed later with Claypool and original Primus guitarist Todd Huth. While Lane’s drumming style isn’t as “proggy” as Alexander’s, he holds a commanding blend of jazz and garage rock. It’s very loose, but not as loose as his predecessor’s. It’s difficult to see this in these older recordings, and it’s more apparent in the first LP featuring Lane, 2011’s
Green Naugahyde, so these re-recordings don’t do too much to show the world what Lane can bring to the table. While “Harold of the Rocks” is a highlight that contradicts this narrative (Lane’s jazzy drumming works surprisingly well here), you won’t find anything mind-blowing.
What the
June 2010 Rehearsal EP does do, however, is signal the musical direction that Primus would take for their next EP. The re-recordings use a number of warped bass effects from Claypool, who also shows a yodeling vocal style over the snarls of earlier Primus recordings. “Duchess and the Proverbial Mind Spread” takes a pretty dramatic shift from its original
The Brown Album version, but it ends up working out, thanks to an aesthetic that sounds more akin to a live recording than the stringent original recording. “Pudding Time” is a lesser example of this change, not sounding different enough, but still sounding alien to the superior
Frizzle Fry version. “American Life” from
Sailing the Seas of Cheese fares slightly better, sticking to Primus tradition of thick, meaty jams smack dab in the middle. Overall, the June 2010 Rehearsal is more a glimmer in the oncoming light of
Green Naugahyde.
What else can be said? The
June 2010 Rehearsal EP is far from a terrible recording. It features some solid re-recordings of some nice tracks. It shows off Lane’s drumming in a passable fashion and gives fans something to look forward to in the group’s next recording. But that’s it. It’s probably the most unessential album in Primus’ entire discography, even surpassing the slouching slog of
The Brown Album. Perhaps this is why Primus released this album for free on their website; it’s solely a rehearsal. Without slick production or creative adrenaline, it acts as a simple demo reel, which while not unenjoyable, doesn’t do anything interesting. As bad as
The Brown Album was, at least it felt kind of new. The
June 2010 Rehearsal is so painfully unessential that its role as a preview for future Primus endeavors with Lane is almost diminished. Unless you’re a long-time Prawn soldier, there’s nothing worthwhile about this EP and it can easily be dismissed.
