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Frizzle Fry

 
Album Review: Frizzle Fry

  • Artist: Primus
  • Rating: StarStarStarHalf Star
  • Release Date: 1990 02
  • Type: Lyrics are included with the album
  • Genre: Rock

Review

Primus' first studio album wouldn't necessarily be a surprise to anyone familiar with their Suck on This days, not least because a good chunk of that album ended up being represented here. Not that this was surprising, but what was pleasant was how well and easily the at-once frenetic and extremely precise way the trio had around its spastic rhythms, translated into a great effort away from the stage. Certainly the fact that Les Claypool had once tried out for Metallica was clear enough with the doomy metal opening of "To Defy the Laws of Tradition," but once Claypool started singing about brides choosing colors other than white for marriages, the band's own world came to the fore. It's pretty easy to see in retrospect how much of a melange went into the group's work. Nods but thankfully few outright steals to everything from Frank Zappa's arch humor and Funkadelic's sprawl to the Police's early, spare effectiveness crop up and, indeed, so does plenty of Metallica (the title track's extreme climax in particular). But whether it's due to Claypool's reedy, whacked-out voice or the fact that just about every song seems like it could be a soundtrack to a moshpit gone wild, something about Frizzle Fry is ultimately and perfectly of its time and place. The tightly wired and wound lope of "John the Fisherman" probably remains the most concentrated blast of them all, but nods should also go to the grinding march/stomp "Too Many Puppies," with its wry and worried vision of an overcrowded future, and the equally slow death crunch of "The Toys Go Winding Down." Then there's the already established live fave "Pudding Time," which is one of the goofiest anti-celebrations of consumer culture around; and all the better for it. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
To Defy the Laws of Tradition Larry LaLonde, Les Claypool, Tim "Herb" Alexander Primus (6:42)
Groundhog's Day Tim "Herb" Alexander, Les Claypool, Larry LaLonde Primus (4:58)
Too Many Puppies Tim "Herb" Alexander, Les Claypool, Larry LaLonde Primus (3:57)
Mr. Knowitall Larry LaLonde, Tim "Herb" Alexander, Les Claypool Primus (3:51)
Frizzle Fry Tim "Herb" Alexander, Larry LaLonde, Les Claypool Primus (6:04)
John the Fisherman Tim "Herb" Alexander, Larry LaLonde, Les Claypool Primus (3:37)
You Can't Kill Michael Malloy Matthew Winegar Matthew Winegar (:25)
The Toys Go Winding Down Tim "Herb" Alexander, Les Claypool, Larry LaLonde Primus (4:35)
Pudding Time Tim "Herb" Alexander, Larry LaLonde, Les Claypool Primus (4:08)
Sathington Willoby Les Claypool, Tim "Herb" Alexander, Larry LaLonde Primus (:24)
Spegetti Western Tim "Herb" Alexander, Les Claypool, Larry LaLonde Primus (5:43)
Harold of the Rocks Larry LaLonde, Tim "Herb" Alexander, Les Claypool Primus (6:17)
To Defy Larry LaLonde, Les Claypool, Tim "Herb" Alexander Primus (:36)

Credits

Les Claypool (Bass (Upright)), Herb (?), Les Claypool (Banjo), Herb (Toy Organ), Les Claypool (Bass), Tim "Herb" Alexander (Producer), Matthew Winegar (Toy Piano), Les Claypool (Electric Fiddle), Larry LaLonde (Guitar (Electric)), Les Claypool (Bass (Electric)), Larry LaLonde (Producer), Tim "Herb" Alexander (?), Tim "Herb" Alexander (Drums), Les Claypool (?), Todd Huth (Guitar), Matthew Winegar (?), Les Claypool (Vocals), Larry LaLonde (Guitar (Acoustic)), Matthew Winegar (Performer), Les Claypool (Producer)
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Wikipedia: Frizzle Fry
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Frizzle Fry
Studio album by Primus
Released February 1990
Recorded 1989 at Different Fur, San Francisco, California
Genre Alternative rock, funk rock
Length 51:25 (56:13 for reissue)
Label Caroline Records (1990), Prawn Song (2002)
Producer Primus, Matt "Exxon" Winegar
Professional reviews
Primus chronology
Suck on This
(1989)
Frizzle Fry
(1990)
Sailing the Seas of Cheese
(1991)
Singles from Frizzle Fry
  1. "John the Fisherman"
    Released: 1990
  2. "Too Many Puppies"
    Released: 1990
  3. "Mr. Knowitall"
    Released: 1990

Frizzle Fry is the first studio album recorded by the band Primus. Suck on This, a live album, preceded its release.

Released in 1990 on Caroline Records, it features the band's first single and minor radio hit "John the Fisherman". It was remastered in 2002, after the original had been out of print for years, and was released on Prawn Song Records. The remaster includes an extra track, named "Hello Skinny/Constantinople", a cover of the tracks "Hello Skinny" and "Constantinople" by The Residents.

"You Can't Kill Michael Malloy" is an excerpt from the Spent Poets song of the same name. The album's producer, Matt Winegar (who also recorded and produced Suck on This), was a member of the group, and a clip is featured just before "The Toys Go Winding Down". During Primus' 2004 Hallucino-Genetics Tour, where Frizzle Fry was performed as the second set, "You Can't Kill Michael Malloy" was used in its entirety as a short set break, as opposed to merely the excerpt.

"Too Many Puppies" has been adopted by some sports venues as bump music.[citation needed] The track "John the Fisherman" was used in the video game Guitar Hero II.[1]

Track listing

All lyrics written by Claypool (Sturgeon BMI), all music composed by Primus (except: "Michael Malloy", composed and performed by Matt Winegar; "Hello Skinny/Constantinople", written by The Residents (Pale Pachyderm Publishing BMI)). Guitar melodies on "To Defy the Laws of Tradition", "Groundhog's Day", "Frizzle Fry", "John the Fisherman", and "Harold of the Rocks" by Todd Huth.

# Title Length
1. "To Defy the Laws of Tradition"   6:41
2. "Ground Hog's Day"   4:58
3. "Too Many Puppies"   3:57
4. "Mr. Knowitall"   3:51
5. "Frizzle Fry"   6:05
6. "John the Fisherman"   3:37
7. "You Can't Kill Michael Malloy"   0:26
8. "The Toys Go Winding Down"   4:35
9. "Pudding Time"   4:09
10. "Sathington Willoby"   0:24
11. "Spegetti Western"   5:43
12. "Harold of the Rocks"   6:17
13. "To Defy"   0:39
14. "Hello Skinny/Constantinople" (2002 reissue only) 4:49

Personnel

Primus
Production
  • Todd Huth – second acoustic guitar on "Toys"
  • Stephen Marcussen – remastering
  • Matt Murman – second engineer
  • Primus – producer
  • Ron Rigler – engineer
  • Matt "Exxon" Winegar – producer (except "Hello Skinny/Constantinople")
Visual art
  • Paul Haggard – jacket design, photography
  • Lance "Link" Montoya – sculpture
  • Snap – airbrushing, cartooning
Sathington Willoughby Orchestra
  • Todd Huth – acoustic guitar
  • Hunker – archtop acoustic guitar
  • Exxon – toy piano
  • Herb – toy organ
  • Snap – banjo, string bass

References


 
 

 

Copyrights:

Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Frizzle Fry" Read more