Les Claypool And The Holy Mackeral

High Ball With The Devil (Interscope)
by Lex Marburger

It’s true, I know. Les Claypool is an extremely talented bass player. I agree his voice is singular (and for this, I thank Larynxia, the Goddess of vocal chords). Yeah, he can do that “hey, maybe I’ll rip off Tony Levin’s Chapman Stick style of playing” thing, but all that aside, Highball With The Devil is not all that interesting. A solo album always shows what that one person brought to their original band. Of course, we already know what Les brought to Primus. So, does Highball show off any new ideas or concepts? No, it’s pretty much just Primus with half-assed attempts at playing like Tim and Larry. When the other two thirds of Primus are removed, you really start missing the psycho-sound effects, general guitar noodling craziness, and high-caffeine drumming. Les’ precise bass wanking desperately cries out for some random chaos noise (Larry! Come back!) to balance it out. He tries to do that on “Calling Kyle,” but doesn’t make it. For variety, there’s a faux-surf tune, “Hendershot.” Unfortunately, it doesn’t go anywhere either. These songs mostly sound unfinished, lacking a sense of direction. There’s an initial idea, however trite, followed by little to no development whatsoever. The songs are far too obvious, and after two or three listens they fade in the mind and become mere background music. After the initial concept is understood, there’s nothing else to pick out. No subtlety, no tiny intricate sounds in the corner waiting to be noted and dusted off only after the tenth time you listen to the song. And that “unique” vocal quality does tend to get on the nerves after a while. Luckily, his Elmer Fudd-on-crack voice is absent on “Delicate Tendrils,” but it’s replaced by Henry “Lookit me! I’m angrily brooding!” Rollins, so the switch is questionable at best. All in all, Highball had me running for my old Frizzle Fry record (blue vinyl!), and cranking up “John The Fisherman” and “Harold Of The Rocks.” Ah, those were the days…