A Reluctant Acknowledgement

Les Claypool's unflinching weirdness

Welcome to our Musical Zodiac, in which we arbitrarily match instruments to personality types and use it as an excuse to talk about our favorite musickers. The astrological sign for 19 December - 19 January is Capricorn - which has very scientifically been aligned with the personality of the Bass.

I love Les Claypool, and I particularly loved the 1991 Primus album, Sailing the Seas of Cheese. But I didn’t intend to include an essay about Primus in Bass Month because that felt too obvious.

From Wikipedia - by digital capture, Fair use

And yet…

Defiant Analysis of Gonzo Poetry

I never knew which of my high school friends’ various musical obsessions would find a way into my brain. Not everything made an immediate impact. Frank Zappa was too much for me to process back then; Bob Dylan never impressed me much. Captain Beefhart’s Trout Mask Replica was a hard pass and I never recovered.

But occasionally, something would find the right combination of silly and deep to unlock some new part of my brain.

Primus’s “Tommy the Cat” found its way to my ears not too long after Tom Waits’ Raindogs¹ had struck my fancy, and his guest spot in their song gave them a way in:

The confident outlandishness of Claypool’s sonic onslaught hooked me and hooked me hard. I couldn’t wrap my brain around what I heard, but in a way that compelled me to hear as much of it as I could.

And while I would never tell anyone that Primus songs are “deep,” there was an occasional spark that made me ask questions I hadn’t been comfortable asking. For example, “Is It Luck?” to hear this song when you’re a young adult facing up to existential questions about the existence of God and confronting the chaotic nature of a universe without a Creator?

My socks and shoes always match
Is It Luck?
There's a foot at the end of each of my legs
Is It Luck?
I can play my bass for you
Is It Luck?
Some girls like to kiss my face
Is It Luck? Is It Luck?

Silly. Deep.

Unlocked.

Textual analysis of Primus songs is a fool’s game, though. You might find something randomly, as I did. But more often, the randomness is the point, and finding an idea that resonates with something deeper is only a coincidence.

Theory vs. Weirdness

Analysis of music theory is not my strong suit, so it doesn’t mean much for me to say that I find someone’s music to be perplexing. That sort of statement means a lot more coming from someone who does have expertise in both theory analysis and performing the instrument in question, so I’ll let Charles Berthoud of Mastering the Masters do the heavy lifting here:

As Charles says at the close of his video, Primus are "completely unafraid to be their own unique, weird selves. When you watch Les and the rest of the band on stage you can tell that there's absolutely no hesitation or self-conciousness. He just completely leans in and just does all of his weird dissonant bass lines, wears his crazy outfits, and does all of his strange dance moves. It's really refreshing to see someone who isn't self-conscious and trying to fit in all the time, and I think a lot of people, including me, find that pretty inspiring.”

Breaking Things for Fun

The goofiness of Les Claypool’s various projects puts a certain kind of person off. People who want things to make sense don’t find all of that weird dissonance to be inspirational. Maybe they see it as a challenge to order and stability. Maybe they don’t understand how things that don’t make sense can continue to thrive.

But I see a kind of reverse earnestness in his music that contrasts with artists like (for example) Sting - another phenomenal bass player, but one whose best work arises from finding playfulness in conformity. Where Sting wants to walk along a beach with you and see the world in a grain of sand, Les Claypool bounces frenetically between the tidal pools like a ten-year-old finding odd, slimy organisms that feel like they shouldn’t exist and poking them.

Both approaches foster a sense of wonder - but one of them is a hell of a lot more fun.

1. Profane Profundities of the Proletarian Preacher