Primus is a quirky power trio from the Bay Area in California that specializes in quirky bass intensive rock that has garnered them a large cult following and even some mainstream success.

Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People is the newest release by the band and is unique due to the fact that in addition to a DVD containing all of the band's groundbreaking videos up to this point (and tons of live footage), you also get an amazing 5 song E.P. What makes this release noteworthy is that in addition to being Primus' first release of new material in over 4 years, it also marks the return of original Primus drummer Tim "Herb" Alexander. The rest of their lineup consists of leader Les Claypool (vocals, bass) and Larry "Ler" Lalonde (guitar).

Tim quit the band in 1997 after they had finished their world tour in support of their 1995 release Tales From the Punchbowl. He was replace for 3 years by Brian "Brian" Mantia who played on 2 studio albums (Brown Album in 1997 and Anti-Pop, in 1999) and an E.P. of covers in 1998 called Rhinoplasty.

After Primus had finished their disappointing tour for Anti-Pop (record sales weren't that great and MTV banned their video for the great track Laquerhead) they decided to take an extended hiatus.

Brain ended up quitting the band and joining Guns and Roses. Ler pretty much disappeared. Les started a series of high profile side projects like the Frog Brigade (which was more of a jam band) and Oysterhead (which saw him teaming up with ex-Police drummer Stewart Copeland and Phish guitarist/vocalist Trey Anastasio).

But back in May word started spreading around the Primus campfire that Herb was back in the band and that the band had started recording new material. There was also word that a long in development retrOspective DVd was also in the works.

On September 9th, 2003 Primus fans got a big present in the form of this great DVD/CD package.

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ABOUT THE DVD:

The biggest draw to the DVD is that it features all of the band's music videos to date in complete, uncensored form. The videos include;
1) John the Fisherman
2) Too Many Puppies
3)Jerry Was a Race Car Driver
4) Tommy the Cat
5) My Name is Mud
6) Mr. Krinkle
7) DMV
8) Wynona's Big Brown Beaver
9) Southbound Pachyderm (which features great stop motion animation)
10) Shake Hands with Beef
11) Over the Falls
12) Laquerhead
and their cover of 13) The Devil Went Down to Georgia (which features some more hilarious stop motion animation).

The main menu has a cross section of a house displayed with each "room" housing the corresponding videos and live footage for each album. There is also a great "play all" feature for the videos that plays them all in order without having to pick them individually.

The band also provides running commentary for videos 1,3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. It's apparent that they haven't seen these videos in some time as they date back all the way to 1990. They seem amused at how they appeared back then as well as the unique (and cost saving) techniques implemented by Les Claypool who directed many of the videos himself.

In addition to all of their videos, there are also behind-the-scenes/making-of segments for the videos Shake Hands with Beef and Wynona's Big Brown Beaver.

There are also lots of live footage that varies in visual/audio quality as some of it was professionally shot while other stuff is from bootlegs (which they put the words "bootleg quality" on the screen whenever they show bootleg material.

The footage dates from all the way back to 1986 (4 years before their 1st album when the lineup was Todd Huth on guitar and a drummer who lasted just a very short period) to footage of them live on the Family Values tour in 1999 headed by Limp Bizkit.

Highlights include some very rough camcorder footage of Primus in a very small radio control room in 1990 performing some songs for Berkley college radio to some of their performance at Woodstock 94 (during which when they started playing My Name is Mud, the crowd responded by flinging mud up on stage which caused the band to stop playing for a minute).

As with the videos, the live footage is indexed to each correspoding "room" on the menu which details the extras for each Primus album.

There is also even more stuff in the form of some hilarious interview segments and 3 easter eggs that I've found (one featuring guitarist Buckethead, another with pseudo spokesperson Bob C. Cock in "heaven" and the 3rd a live segment showing the very last concert with the Todd Huth and Jay Lane era of Primus as it was their last concert).

It is apparent that a lot of thought and care went into the assembly of the DVD's features and there is a ton of stuff to wade through. Just having all of their music videos all on one disc is cool enough.
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AND NOW ABOUT THE CD/E.P.:

As if Primus wasn't gracious enough to give us such a great DVD, they also included a CD that contains 29 minutes of brand new music featuring Tim "Herb" Alexander back behind the drum kit.

They literally wrote and recorded all of this music during the short time span of 2 weeks but you wouldn't know it listening to these 5 great tracks.

The band literally picks right back up where they left off with Herb in 1995 and I think that they have never sounded better.

The production is crystal clear and the variety in the songs themselves is staggering, considering how quickly they were put together.

Here is the track listing:
1) The Carpenter and the Dainty Bride
2) Pilcher's Squad
3) Mary the Ice Cube
4) The Last Superpower a.k.a. Rapscallion
5) My Friend Fats

The E.P. starts off with a surreal edge on track #1 with Les doing some very weird bass stuff on his 6-string fretless with a delay pedal/digital sampling unit. But this close to 7 minute track quickly picks up steam and features a tremendous groove.

Track #2, Pilcher's Squad is only a little under 2 minutes long and is vintage Primus. An atonal but very energetic bass line, brain piercing guitar and Herb's patented drums make this one of the catchiest songs on this E.P.

#3 Mary the Ice Cube is a slower and weird song about a guy who lost his precious little ice cube (you kind of have to hear the lyrics). A great fretless bass line helps build the song's energy as it goes along and the song grows with intensity as it goes along. It also gets creepier and funnier as the lyrics progress as well.

#4 The Last Superpower a.k.a. Rapscallion starts off similar to the first track in terms of Les doing some really weird stuff on his bass using a digital sampling unit of some sort. But the song quickly turns into a fantastic number that features a trademark Les tapping bass part, fantastic drum interplay courtesy of Herb and vintage Ler guitar. The song shifts gears after the 2nd chorus and goes into more of a heavier half time part before taking a breather during a very weird section that showcases Les' warped musical bass sensibilities. They then bring it back home by going back to the main figure of the song. One of my favorite Primus tracks of all time!

#5 My Friend Fats rounds out the disc with Herb doing a drum ostinato (a repeated figure to non-musicians) that Ler is doubling on guitar. Les comes in with some great vocals/lyrics talking about why his friend Fats is a "hell of a guy" before doing a great tapping bass part during the "chorus" which also showcases Les' growing role as an interesting vocalist in the band.
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And that's it. My only gripe is that I wish that they had come out with an entire album instead of just this 5 song E.P. but the quality of the material is so high that I'm not complaining at all. Primus has been away for over 4 years and this package is acting as sort of a re-introduction of the band to today's listeners as well as showing where all the band has been and come from.

Primus fans should not hesitate picking this up as it is truly a great package and for only 14.99 for both the DVD and CD, it is a hell of a deal.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Recommended: Yes