Colonel Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade
Live Frogs Set 1 (Prawn Song)
by Craig Regala
Primus bass (etc.) player puts together a chops-heavy unit to really get after the goofus/progressive/jazz/third stream/funk/metal/surf fusion. Guys who dig polyrhythms, 32nd notes, modal scales, and lightning-fast guitaring will really go for this. The King Crimson and Pink Floyd covers signify heavily. Claypool recorded a different Floyd tune, “Have A Cigar,” on a Primus covers EP years ago and has stated the next Frog Brigade recording will include Floyd’s Animals nose to tail. Should you give a fuck? Sure. The exploratory nature of players interacting anchored by a tune is a fine thing and is how music as music grows. Much like the Allman Brothers in their cultural circle, or the SST band Gone in theirs, this itches the jazz bone without “being” jazz. When there’s noodling, it’s fat, fast, and ends up somewhere: Generally back to the tune/hammerhook/sax break/hellacopter noise or the end.
(3470 19th St. San Francisco, CA 94110)