SOUNDTRACK: PRIMUS-Pork Soda (1993).
Pork soda was a surprise hit read any review and they always talk about how it’s the oddest top ten record ever). Even more unexpected was that the first single, “My Name is Mud” was also huge. But how weird. The bass is really low and rumbling–sometime so low that it sounds like drums (which I thought it was in the verses when I first heard it) and the guitar is just crazy cool–buzzing noises all over the place. And the lyrics–whoo boy–they match the video perfectly. And yet a big hit–which got them invited to Woodstock that year.
“Welcome to this World’ reminds me of the Dead Kennedys (which is weird, I know). Not the opening bit of course, but the way Les sings the chorus and the punky chords that accompany it seem very DK to me. “Bob” is a really dark song about a guy who hangs himself. The melody is an interesting and compelling one, but man lyrically it is such a downer (Ler’s sirens guitar plays that well).
It is followed by the awesome “DMV.” Between Les’ cool tapping bass, Ler’s crazy noise-chords and wild solo and Tim’s great drums, not to mention the awesome lyrics about the DMV, this song is a major winner.
“The Ol’ Diamondback Sturgeon” has an interesting bass line and is a kind of mellow song that tells the tale of a big fish in the waters of San Pablo Bay. Musically the bass sounds Middle Eastern–although there’s no mention in the credits of any instruments other than bass and mandolin, so how does he do it?
I love “Nature Boy” a weird song (aren’t they all) in which he talks about dancing around the house naked. The verses are quiet while the chorus is quintessential Primus–slapped bass and stop-on-a-dime changes. At around 3 minutes the song changes tempo into this really fast section with Ler’s insane guitar solo, and then it migrates into an awesomely catchy fast instrumental section which is over too fast.
“Wounded Knee” is a 2 minute percussion piece that Tim Alexander says was inspired by “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.” It’s followed by one of the craziest songs in Primus history–“Pork Soda.” The bass is a bowed upright bass (but bowed in a way that I’ve never heard before) and Ler’s guitar is basically a one note ringing. And all the while Les is rambling on about something that you can barely hear. Until the chorus comes in and you can all grab a can of pork soda.
The next song is “Pressman” which was on Suck on This. It was my least favorite song on that disc and it’s not a lot better here. It’s a much better sound, but I think it’s long and kind of unremarkable. But “Mr Krinkle” changes that. Another bowed bass song (with the weird sounds he gets out of it). This one had a crazy wonderful video. It’s followed by the bluegrass sounding “The Air is Getting Slippery,” a banjo romp in which the obvious rhymes with luck and pluck are switched with a quiet “forgive me if I hesitate.” It’s followed by a weird banjo solo from Ler.
One of the highlights of the record is the 8 minute instrumental (yes!) “Hamburger Train. It’s got a lot of slap bass and Ler’s crazy noises all held in place by Tim’s drums. The biggest difference is that Ler gets a pretty normal solo and Les also does a fast solo. This was clearly just an excuse to jam for a while and it’s a good listen.
The disc basically opens and closes with “Pork chop’ Little Ditty,” a mandolin song that is under a minute. Although there a kind of bonus track called “Hail Santa” which is just a sort of woozy bass sound and bells.
It’s an unexpected hit, and one that I have to wonder how many people still play. If you have it, put it on again.
[READ: January 7, 2014] “The Referees”
I’ve only read one story from Joseph O’Neill before and I enjoyed it a lot. I also enjoyed this one. I thought it was nicely funny and also constructed in an unexpectedly amusing way.
The story begins with the narrator talking about meeting up with his fiend Mike. Mike is complaining about his neighbor. The asshole known as Gus (real name Gustavus). Gus is, well was, an alcoholic and he’s trying to make amends. But Mike knows that Gus is an asshole and doesn’t want to be friends.
The way the story is told, the narrator describes it in the past tense, but then he interjects dialogue as if it is occurring the present. He even interrupts himself:
Michael enjoys a basically unqualified freedom to keep whomsoever at whatever distance he sees fit for whatever reason, the question to be answered is–
I say, “The answer is no. Don’t do it. An asshole is an asshole. Don’t cave.”
–the question to be answered, Michael goes on…
The narrator is just biding his time listening to this story as he feels he has far more interesting stories to relate. Like that he is looking to move into a new apartment in New York after moving back from Portland. And he needs a reference for the housing board. He finally asks Mike to write one.
When he next checks his mail, Mike has sent him a response that he can’t do it, he feels that he simply cannot in good conscience vouch for a friend since it’s not a professional relationship.
The narrator’s response: “What an asshole, I think I can say.”
The rest of the story concerns the narrator’s inability to get people to vouch for him and what that says about himself.
He is able to get a note from his boss, but he has only worked there two weeks, and is unsure if that will work. Hi ex-girlfriend won’t do it because she fears he will try to get back together with her (a very funny sequence). She suggests his friend Billy. Then we learn all about his history with is fiend Billy (also very funny). I won’t ruin the punchline of how Billy replies to his request.
By the end of the story the narrator is still unsure if he has fully secured what is needed for his condo, but he feels confident that he is a good guy and he lists the things that make him so (and the bad things that don’t disqualify him from being a good guy).
While there were moments that made me laugh out loud in the story it’s not a comic piece, and in fact it ends on an introspective note. But I really enjoyed everything about this story.
I Just Read About That... 
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