Primus's Chocolate Factory

Primus has a new record!  Primus and the Chocolate Factory With the Fungi Ensemble.  

I was excited when I saw this announced.  But apprehensive, because the last several albums from this group have been somewhat of a let down.   I guess I've been waiting 20 years for Seas of Cheese part two and have been starting to realize that its probably never going to happen.  Then I found out that it was a studio version of their New Year's Eve 2013 show at The Fox Theater in Oakland. A  cover album of the 1971 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie soundtrack.   Now I'm really on the fence. I didnt go to that show or hear anything about it.  It's classic songs from a classic movie that Tim Burton already fucked up once.  Now let's see what Primus can do with these songs.  But this isn't 1990's Primus, well, it is if you consider that it's the same lineup reunited... but it's coming from a Primus whose recent stuff has been lackluster.  So here we go...

While this is unmistakably Primusesqe, this could have easily been called Les Claypool and the Fungi Ensemble because to me it doesn't feel like the band Primus.   If you want to call it Primus I'd say it's done in the style of all of my least favorite Primus songs.  I fell asleep both times trying to listen to it.  The songs are classic but this reimagining does little justice to the originals. Same could be said about  the buildup of it being the classic Primus lineup of Les and Larry rejoining with Herb. Like I said before it feels like a Les Claypool side project. 

Every other song is the same Oompa Loompa song with different lyrics.  It never peaks with something incredible or unexpected. The whole thing is the same repetitive drone with Claypool talk singing very well known lyrics but with less of the melody were all used to. Tim's drumming, a staple in the Primus sound that made them famous, and a big part of the promotion, is almost non-existent in this record.  

What I see here is a lot of hype and promotional extras such as Wonka themed everything,  hidden golden tickets and candy bars for what is essentially a mediocre, boring cover album. I'm hoping to see what these three do after spending some time writing together again. (If they even do that) But I'm not getting my hopes up.  

"Primus Sucks" is getting less and less sarcastic.