If you had asked me,
during the 90’s what
the likelihood would
be of a collaboration
between Les Claypool
of Primus and Sean Lennon,
the famous offspring of a
Beatle, I might have said
there is zero chance
of that. I would be wrong,
of course. The resulting
albums, as one would
expect, are pretty weird.
Unconventional, silly,
psychedelic, progressive,
laced with Claypool’s lyric
absurdities, his gremlin-like
singing, and Lennon’s
sense of melody, not to
mention an uncanny
similarity to his father’s
singing voice, and you have
something like Kansas
on mushrooms, or The
Beatles joined by Robert
Fripp, or a collaboration
between Pink Floyd and
Spongebob Squarepants.
It’s really quite magical.
There’s only a decade
between the ages of these
two individuals, which,
in the age of rock music,
is really nothing, and
their aesthetics must
be in sync to a large degree,
or complimentary at least.
After all, I understand a
third album is in the works.
But the best tunes on
South of Reality are hands-
down, in my estimation,
the ones on which Lennon
has the lead vocal. So,
while all of the tunes
are entertaining, jam-packed
with stellar musicianship
and cool arrangement surprises,
only Lennon’s tunes are
hummable, melodic, and
memorable. I love this
collaboration, but, in
some fantasy world in
which these guys asked
me to produce one of
their albums, I’d say to
them, more Lennon, less
Claypool. More melody,
fewer gremlins. Everything
else you’re doing, that bass
work, that drumming,
those guitars, those solos,
those lyrics, those wacky
arrangements, you just keep
on going with that.
Notes on the vinyl edition: South of Reality, ATO Records, 2019, double album in purple, pink, and blue vinyl. A beautiful specimen, worthy of the above photo, I think.
FYI: I’m listening to everything, A to Z, and writing a long skinny poem-like-thing in response for each artist. These things look like a duck, but they don’t quack like a duck. Hence: “poem-like-thing.”
michael jarmer 