Primus

Les Claypool’s distinctive bass-slapping and growling singing voice helped ’90s alt-rock jam band Primus catapult to more mainstream success than a band with songs like “Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver” should probably ever have expected. The band went on indefinite hiatus following 1999’sAntipop, but toured intermittently over the past decade, mostly gathering to play albums in their entirety or to release live discs like 2003’s CD/DVD Animals Should Not Try To Act Like People. After 2010’s spate of tour dates and a reunion with original drummer Jay Lane, Primus returned in 2011 with Green Naugahyde. Naming its sole reference point, Claypool has said the album sounds more like the band’s breakout debut, Frizzle Fry, than anything since.

Updated 05/15/2012