It is almost impossible to believe that it took a band like Primus twenty five years to make a full-blown concept album. What is much easier to believe however is that now in 2014 the oddball California trio have decided to do so in remaking the soundtrack to 1971’s Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. In recent interviews front man Les Claypool has professed his love for the Gene Wilder classic, citing it as a major influence on not only his music but his personal life as well. If you have been following his career (both in and outside of Primus) this should come as absolutely no surprise at all. Claypool’s sense of dark cartoonish whimsy is entirely in line with the cheerful psychedelic horror of the film.
Primus and the Chocolate Factory has
been billed as Primus and the Fungi Ensemble; the Fungi Ensemble
components coming in the form of percussionist Mike Dillon and
cellist Sam Bass. These are two musicians who were cribbed from
Claypool’s own band to help fill out the record. The album also
welcomes long-time Primus drummer (and recent cancer survivor) Tim
“Herb” Alexander back into the band for the first album since the
Animals Should Not Act Like People EP back in 2003. For those
paying attention to the maths, that means that four out of five
players on this record are the rhythm section. The sound that these
guys make is pure Primus but with an even heavier focus on sheer
off-the-wall weirdness than ever before.
So what does it sound like, a
practically undefinable alternative rock band tackling the soundtrack
to a million childhoods? The short answer is: faithful but
disturbing. These are the very songs from the movie and while they’ve
been Primus-ified they are still instantly recognisable. The
sing-along lines to ‘Candy Man’ and ‘Golden Ticket’ have been
thickened out with pounding drum rolls and oddly-tuned guitars but
anybody who’s ever seen the film will feel right at home. But to be
honest there was little need to alter the tunes. From the comforting
distance of adulthood it can be easy to forget the dark undercurrents
of Willy Wonka and his fantastical factory.
If the song ‘Pure Imagination’
should happen to conjure up images of a brightly coloured candy man
atop his magical barge then this version is confronting you with its
own private psychotropic nightmare. The words are exactly the same in
both versions but Larry LaLonde’s pin-balling guitar lead,
Claypool’s nimble but improbably-thick bass lines, and the ensemble
of clattering percussion has a tendency to instil the correct degree
of dread in the listener. This is something that Primus are keen to
remind us all of; that the horrors behind the fantasy are all too
real and much closer than you think.
Arguably some of the most famous
musical numbers from Willy Wonka are the fourth wall-breaking Oompa
Loompa songs. Each and every one of these songs has survived intact
on the album, dominating the b-side. The monstrous stomp they bring
to it and Claypool’s carney barker delivery are perfectly at home
here philosophizing about the downfalls of greed, gluttony, and
sloth. If there was ever going to be (yet another) new version of the
film, a lot of time could be saved by transplanting Primus directly
into these scenes.
The only “new” track on the album
is the closing piece, ‘Farewell Wonkites’ – and even it makes
liberal use of the ‘Pure Imagination’ melody. On this song Primus
flex every prog rock muscle in their bodies and they have plenty of
those to spare. LaLonde is in full The Wall-era David Gilmour
mode for this powerful instrumental closer to the album. He might
play second fiddle to the almighty percussion ensemble (and
Claypool’s peerless bass guitar work) for most of the album but at
least right at the end he has his chance to shine. By the time it
wraps up there’s a good chance you will have partially melted into
your sofa with a wide, candy-induced grin plastered onto your face.
We live in a
world where dozens of TV shows and movies have repurposed the plot of
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (as well as, in some
cases, the music) for their own designs. Over the years it has become
a part of our collective cultural consciousness. For a band to just
go ahead and base an entire album on that movie might seem like a
cheap, creatively bereft ploy – an easy out in choosing to pluck
the low-hanging fruit. Luckily that band just so happens to be Primus
and in their hands Primus and the Chocolate Factory regains
much of the original movie’s garish menace with enough of a twist
to keep it fresh.
Rating: B+
For fans of: The weird and wonderful
world of Primus, the original Willy Wonka movie, nightmarish fever
dreams
Recommended tracks: Golden Ticket, Pure
Imagination
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