Primus — Pork Soda Album Review: Go Get You Some Weird
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"Chimpanzee, he said it… he said chimpanzee…"
"Primus is a fun stop on the road to Relaxerville — especially if you've got something to set on fire and inhale."
"They should almost call it psychedelic metal… because in a weird way, that's kinda what it is."
"That's how you can sum up Primus — those two words: Why? and How?"
"It fits in all the buckets… and yet it fits in no bucket."
"Go get you some weird. Go get you some Primus."
About This Episode
Primus is always a fun stop on the road to Relaxerville — and Pork Soda, the band's 3rd official studio long player, is the perfect soundtrack for just such an occasion. Released on April 20th, 1993 — almost 50 years to the day after Albert Hofmann's legendary trip on Bicycle Day — Pork Soda ups the dosage of weird previously experienced on Sailing the Seas of Cheese with a unique formulation that only Primus is capable of delivering.
If anything, Primus should be called "psychedelic metal" — because in a weird way, that's kind of exactly what it is. It's jazzy, ugly, funky, and heavy, with some of the most potent, caricaturized, and cartoonesque lyrics in metal delivered in the weirdest, most absurd and surreal manner possible. For people who have never ingested entheogens and wonder what Dr. Hofmann's historic lysergic-fueled bike ride might have been like, Pork Soda is an excellent reference point.
Primus Discography Note: Suck on This is a live album that came out before Frizzle Fry — and John the Fisherman was on both albums. So Pork Soda is technically the 3rd official studio long player, depending on how you count. Also: imagine if Les Claypool had joined Metallica. Just imagine.
Pre-show news: There's a lot of excitement in the Forbidden camp — new album Forbidden drops October 22, 2026, and the newest single "Psyclops" just dropped. "Forbidden was always kinda proggy…" "He's wearing a KISS shirt — that's awesome!" "Sounds like Forbidden." Also: Duff McKagen has two books — It's So Easy And Other Lies and How To Be a Man (And Other Illusions).
Get Pork Soda
Primus — Pork Soda (1993)
Released April 20, 1993. The 3rd studio album from Les Claypool, Larry LaLonde, and Tim Alexander. Jazzy, ugly, funky, heavy, and absolutely unlike anything else in existence.
Buy on Amazon (paid link)The Album — Track by Track
The opener — "This is all it is… and then…" A brief, quirky instrumental scene-setter that immediately signals you are no longer in normal music territory. Buckle up.
"It's always been…" "It's just so ugly… it just sounds ugly." "I wonder, did Les just let him (Larry LaLonde — guitars) do what he wanted, or is there any writing involved? Because it sounds ad-libbed." "To me, it sounds like jazz… like he makes it up as he goes along… improv jazz." "That's not weird enough… do it again." #amberalert — "That's only important if your girlfriend's name is Amber."
"That's not weird enough… do it again.""You can hear the South Park-ness…" "That's heavy… but why?" "That's very jazzy, for sure — it's jazz metal." #jazzmetal "Left turn…" "Primus is one of those bands that when you put in the CD, you've got to listen to it front to back." "One of their records is a full experience — the songs kinda flow together."
"Those lyrics are dark…" "That's very heavy… it's almost angry." "That's me and BJ…" #markthetime #guitarclass "He was giving the stoners a class to fuck off in, and that's what we did." #RussellsHighSchoolReflections "That's how you can sum up Primus — those two words: Why? and How?"
"That's how you can sum up Primus — Why? and How?""Chimpanzee, he said it… he said chimpanzee…" "Call it… POINTLESS…" "All the jazzy stuff aside, I think you kinda forget how heavy they are… it's nobody else's heavy."
"Chimpanzee, he said it… he said chimpanzee…" / "Call it… POINTLESS…"#happyprimus "That's a fun noise… I'll put that in here." "A lot of their stuff is kinda stonery too — I think that's why the metalheads like it." "It fits in all the buckets… and yet it fits in no bucket — they're like an ugly Rush… a 90s Rush." "The 90s were pretty hot…" "Low rise jeans or high-rise jeans?" #momjeans #eightiesjeans #hightops "When you unbutton and unzip, you were still a good six inches away from the entertainment center…"
"They're like an ugly Rush… a 90s Rush.""I'm good at it…" #bootsandcats #readthoselyrics "That's a very ugly tone… that guitar tone." "I've got a hot take…" "That's jazz… abstract, ugly jazz." "Here's the hot take I had — I think that Larry's guitar sound… the annoying factor… it's like taking a wah pedal and putting it half-way in between…" #wahwahASMR
#relaxerbreak #ASMR "It's definitely got relaxer vibes, for sure — spark up and hit play."
"That's the weirdest vocals in history…" "Even the vocals are kinda jazzy…" The title track — as weird as the album name suggests and then some.
"The timing of that is weird… it wasn't where I thought '1' would be." "It's just weird… it's really good… it's the cartoonized thing… it kinda just fits them." "You know it's gonna be a good time, and it's gonna be silly, and it's gonna be absurd." "The lyrics are potent, but the delivery is very caricaturized and cartoonesque." "You guys ever see (Primus) live?" #RussellsConcertReflections "The last time I remember seeing Prong…" #markthetime
"They're not really riffs… it's like noises, in a way." "It's just this weird little diddly…" "It (the guitars) kinda reminds me of how the guitar player for The Doors was…" "If you add some distortion to Air Supply, you get Styx."
"If you add some distortion to Air Supply, you get Styx.""That is just ridiculous…" #RussellsReflectionsEncoreEdition #TheGoodies "That's like carnival music… sideshow music…"
"This one's a shorty… all eight minutes of it…" "This is the point in the album where you reload the bong and get ready for the next album." "It's totally metal funk. It's more metal funk than funk metal I think."
"It's more metal funk than funk metal I think.""It's named the exact same thing (as the opener)…" "That's the ultimate, dude — go out and burn one, hang out on the porch, and play your mandolin…"
#markthetime "That's a bicycle bell…" "That sounds like the guitar tuning song…" "It (sounds) like a musical interpretation of when Albert Hofmann discovered LSD." #AlbertHofmann #BicycleDay (04/19/43) #Sandoz #LSD #lysergicaciddiethylamide "I just pulled that out of my ass…" "Sometimes it takes a minute for the lightbulb to click…"
"Like a musical interpretation of when Albert Hofmann discovered LSD."Episode Timestamps
- Episode: Metal Nerdery #363 — Primus: Pork Soda Album Review
- Album: Pork Soda — released April 20, 1993 (appropriately)
- Band: Les Claypool (bass/vocals) · Larry LaLonde (guitar) · Tim Alexander (drums)
- Discography note: Suck on This (live) came before Frizzle Fry — Pork Soda is the 3rd studio long player
- Genre verdict: "Psychedelic metal" — jazzy, ugly, funky, heavy, and unlike anything else
- Albert Hofmann connection: Released almost 50 years to the day after Bicycle Day (April 19, 1943) — #BicycleDay #Sandoz
- The Rush comparison: "They're like an ugly Rush… a 90s Rush."
- The two-word Primus summary: Why? and How?
- The Les Claypool Metallica question: Raised. Not answered. Never will be.
- Pre-show news: Forbidden — new album Forbidden dropping October 22, 2026; lead single "Psyclops" out now
- Sign-off: "Go get you some weird. Go get you some Primus. Find you some psilly."