Review Summary: A great album, definitly worth getting. Many people who want to branch out musically will find Primus as a great band. The sheer instrumental talent of Primus is not to be ignored and has some great instrumental work on this album.
Pork Soda. The two words together are the brainchild of a weird, wacky, untraditional, strange, and just different kind of band. This band is Primus, big surprise. Their songs, lyrics, album titles, album covers, videos, even their playing style on stage, you name it they make it weird. Primus is similar in the important image aspect to the classic horror punk band The Misfits. They both do things with their image that catch the eye of someone. For The Misfits it was making everything I said before based on horror movies, and for Primus it was basing everything on…well…the “imagination” of Les Claypool, their bassist. It was completely different; The Misfits went around with their innovative hairstyle the “devilock” and Primus had Les Claypool doing his signature stomp on stage while stopping in the middle of the show to talk about Michael Moore’s movie (see Hallucino Genetics). The point is Primus is definitely a strange band, but just because their album art and title is crazy and different does not mean in anyway that the music is bad. Pork Soda is one of Primus’ best albums, producing three songs to go on their greatest hits album, was Primus’ first album in the top ten, and as a whole a great album.
On the musical aspect of the album, Primus had switched drummer’s right after Pork Soda, but the lineup for Pork Soda went like this. Of course Les Claypool was on bass, he is the backbone and the heart of Primus’ play. Then there was the drummer Tim “Herb” Alexander, who played amazing with Claypool’s overpowering bass, and his sound was not overlooked. Finally there was the last of the three piece Larry LaLonde, who was Primus’ guitarist. Usually when you think of a band the guitarist has all the solos, does what he wants, and is in the spotlight mainly all the time. LaLonde is the opposite, he is mainly in the background, and has stayed in the band the whole time with Claypool so there wasn’t disagreement with the spotlight. So that was the lineup going into Pork Soda, this is how the album went.
Track By Track Description
Pork Chop’s Little Ditty- The first track doesn’t start off very strong, but it doesn’t have to. Pork Chop’s Little Ditty is the opening part of “My Name is Mud”. It is a short twenty two seconds long, but any wait how long or short is good enough for next track.
(no rating)
My Name is Mud- Probably what Primus is mainly known for, and is part of Primus’ best work without a doubt. The song takes from where “Pork Chop’s Little Ditty” leaves off, with a powerful bass line. Claypool masterfully throws down an extremely heavy slap bass line that stays mostly the same the whole song. Alexander’s bass drum and Claypool’s slap bass line duel with a mix earth shattering noise throughout the song. LaLonde has a nice solo towards the end, which sounds as strange and choppy as most of his solos usually do. The listener then gets a first glimpse of Claypool’s vocals, which are much like Primus’ style…just different. His eerie voice goes well with the strange combination of noise the Primus creates in “My Name is Mud”. Claypool’s vocals do stand out, and help fill the gap that is created without LaLonde’s guitar for most of the song. During the choruses LaLonde plays a bit but besides his solo he doesn’t play at all. Finally after LaLonde’s solo the song comes to a thunderous end with Alexander and Claypool’s instruments bellowing in sync just as loud and precise as they did in the beginning of the song.
(9.5/10)
Welcome to This World- If anything can compete with “My Name is Mud”, “Welcome to This World” does a pretty good job. It is a mix of styles; the heavier play from “My Name is Mud” is replaced with a weird guitar riff, added with a quick choppy bass line that sound well with Claypool’s vocals. The choruses feature a little heavier bass and guitar, along with Alexander’s overpowering bass drum, and Claypool singing the title of the song. After a couple choruses at the middle of the song LaLonde plays another solo and sends the song into a slower, heavier sound with Claypool almost talk-singing. Then the quick, choppy sound comes back and that’s the way the song ends.
(8/10)
Bob- This song features a soft mix of guitar and bass for the intro, but as quick and choppy as “Welcome to This World”. After the intro the song mixes up Claypool and Alexander’s almost earthquake like bass prowess with LaLonde’s almost drunken guitar riffs and solos. Claypool almost whispers for most of the song, his lyrics telling a story of a man who ends up hanging himself. Towards the middle LaLonde plays the beginning guitar intro, and then followed up by a small guitar solo. The song lyrics wise is basically the same throughout until the end when Claypool scats for a bit, followed by the same riffs.
(8/10)
DMV- Another one of the all time Primus greats. It is featured on their greatest hits album along with “My Name is Mud” and “Mr. Krinkle”. The beginning of the song starts off with a bass line similar to “Welcome to This World” and “Bob”. Then distortion guitar kicks in and the chorus starts. The guitar and bass are more dominate in this song so Alexander’s drumming fades to the background. Claypool’s vocals stay somewhat soft volume wise, and never really turn into a yell. A nice bass solo is added in near the end, and finally carries on to the end of the song. “DMV” is pretty repetitive but finishes off strong and makes it a great track.
(9/10)
Ol’ Diamondback Sturgeon (Fisherman’s chronicles pt.3) - A softer, quicker bass intro kicks off “Ol’ Diamondback Sturgeon”. Then a quick frenzied guitar riff stays in the background, and brings in Claypool’s vocals. His vocals have an echo effect and are mainly the background to the play of the guitar and bass from the beginning. Towards the end Claypool has a nice bass solo, ending the track nicely. This track is somewhat of a break, not picking up much, but the instrumental play is not to be ignored and makes up for the lack of heaviness.
(7.5/10)
Nature Boy- Despite the slow intro “Nature Boy” soon picks up during the chorus. The bass riff is quick and upbeat, while the guitar plays a lot of distortion in the background, like most Primus songs. The pattern of the soft repeated intro that expands into the upbeat chorus continues till about half way through the song. LaLonde plays more complex riffs and the play picks up after ten seconds of soft silence. Claypool and LaLonde throw down just as fast and precise riffs as they have during the whole album in this half a minute of spotlight. Finally the song ends with the same riff from the intro and some almost military sounding snare drumming from Alexander.
(8.5/10)
Wounded Knee- This song starts off with an assortment of wind chimes and other instruments, and stays that way for close to a minute until Alexander begins drumming. The wind chimes stay in the background throughout while Alexander’s drum beats begin to get louder and faster. “Wounded Knee” is basically all drumming and is an alright track, but nothing much to speak of besides a useless track.
(5.5/10)
Pork Soda- “Pork Soda” is the ninth track, and is a jumbled mess of riffs, beats, and vocals. Claypool talk sings the most in this song, except for a few times when he sings “Grab yourself a can of Pork Soda! You’ll be feelin just fine!” every other minute or so. The drum beat is a jumbled mess, and seems sloppy throughout. Claypool’s lyrics are very humorous, and make up for some sloppiness. The guitar and bass riffs mirror the drum work, kind of sloppy and a jumbled mess. The song is alright, not very good though unless you listen to the lyrics closely.
(6.5/10)
The Pressman- The tenth track “The Pressman” starts off very soft, almost like “Ol’ Diamondback Sturgeon”, and then picks up during the choruses. Alexander’s drum work stands out during the quiet parts, and is a force to be reckoned with during the choruses when everything picks up. Claypool’s vocals stay quiet for the most part, but he does yell quite a bit during the middle and end parts of the song. The soft guitar and bass riffs from the beginning are played throughout, and keep the mood eerie. Then a soft guitar solo full of distortion is played while Claypool softly whispers during the ending of the song. “The Pressman” finally comes to a close when the beginning riff is repeated once more, and Claypool goes into yelling to end the song with somewhat of a bang. It’s pretty repetitive, but a nice track none the less.
(7/10)
Mr. Krinkle- A long almost stretched bass line makes up the intro, and the familiar distortion guitar riff from LaLonde soon joins it. The intro bass line is repeated the whole song and doesn’t pick up very much. At the middle a long yell by Claypool cues in a long distortion solo by LaLonde which brings all the noise to a halt for half a minute or so. Then you hear a number of voices in the background along with Claypool yelling “Mr. Krinkle”. After this the riff that was repeated throughout the song brings the song to a close. A pretty repetitive song but a great song none the less, it was on Primus’ greatest hits album as well.
(8.5/10)
The Air Is Getting Slippery- Claypool’s weirdest vocals on the album come in on “The Air Is Getting Slippery”. The bass riff is pretty quick and catchy and makes the song a lot better. Lyrics help save this song because it is one of those near useless tracks that the lyrics are meant to be heard. LaLonde plays the banjo in this song, going along with Claypool’s vocals to make this a very strange song. LaLonde on banjo brings a short, nice solo near the end and the beginning riff closes out the song. This track isn’t that good, but a different type of track worth listening to.
(6/10)
Hamburger Train- An automated voice starts the song off by saying “The guy from the hamburger train” and is immediately followed by some very quick and skillful bass work by Claypool. Without singing Claypool can focus on just playing, and has closest to his best work on the album so far. LaLonde doesn’t play much but his ads some fits of distortion as usual but mainly is put in the background. Alexander keeps a very quick, steady drum beat, hammering down on his bass pedal with authority, similar to “My Name is Mud”. His cymbals are use a lot more on “Hamburger Train” than his powerful bass pedal, but his drumming goes great with Claypool’s bass riff that is constant throughout. About halfway through Claypool’s riff gets quicker and LaLonde’s distortion gets louder and louder. Finally LaLonde’s guitar ends out the song, with his distortion almost wailing to end out the song. This is just an instrumental track, and helps show the pure instrumental talent of Primus. Although it can get kind of repetitive as it’s eight minutes long.
(8/10)
Pork Chop’s Little Ditty- This track is basically the same as the first song, but louder and longer. The last half of the song ends in silence so the listener should definitely skip this track.
(no rating)
Hail Santa- The beginning includes an almost sad, solemn bass riff and doesn’t go away. In the background there are voices talking about pigs and such, basically what you would expect from Primus. The melancholy riff from Claypool is accompanied by bells throughout the one minute forty eight second track. “Hail Santa” is the last track on Pork Soda, and ends the album really poorly. “Hamburger Train” is basically the last track worth listening to if your listening to the album in order of tracks.
(4/10)
Well there you have it, Primus’ first big hit album and probably their third best album behind “Sailing the Seas of Cheese” and “Frizzle Fry”, but that is based on my opinion. There are definitely some great tracks on here, even if you have Primus’ greatest hits this is an album worth getting. There are some negatives to it, but they are mainly over weighed by the positives. I’d give the album a 3.5 rating, it’s a great album, but nothing real special.
Positives
-Bass work never disappoints, and can captivate the listener time and time again
-Drums and guitar work are secondary to Claypool’s bass but do a great job anyway
-More good tracks than bad
-Shows some different styles of Primus for those who don’t know them all that well
-LaLonde uses distortion time and time again, which makes his guitar style unique and interesting
-Alexander’s bass drum works great with Claypool’s bass throughout the album
Negatives
-Can get very repetitive
-A few very meaningless tracks
-Claypool’s vocals might be too much for some listeners
-Instrumental work can get sloppy at times
