''Frizzle Fry'' is the debut studio album by American rock band Primus. It was released on February 7, 1990, by

Caroline Records Caroline Records is a record label that was founded in 1973. Founded in the United Kingdom to showcase British progressive rock groups, the label ceased releasing titles in 1976 and then re-emerged in the United States in 1986. The label rel ...

. Produced by the band and Matt Winegar, the album was recorded at Different Fur Studios in San Francisco in December 1989. In 2015, Primus frontman Les Claypool ranked ''Frizzle Fry'' as his favorite Primus album.

Background

Primus self-financed the recording of ''Frizzle Fry'' using proceeds from their preceding album, '' Suck On This''. The completed album was then released in 1990 on

. ''Frizzle Fry'' features guitarist Larry LaLonde playing many parts written by previous guitarist Todd Huth who left before the recording of the album. ''Frizzle Fry'' features the band's first single and minor radio hit " John the Fisherman". It was remastered in 2002, after the original had been out of print for years; the album was released on Prawn Song Records. The remaster includes an extra track, named "Hello Skinny/Constantinople", a cover of the tracks "Hello Skinny" and "Constantinople" by the Residents. " Too Many Puppies" is the first Primus song Les Claypool ever wrote. "You Can't Kill Michael Malloy" is an excerpt from the Spent Poets song of the same name. The album's producer, Matt Winegar, who also recorded and produced '' Suck on This'', was a member of the group, and a clip is featured just before "The Toys Go Winding Down". The beginning of "To Defy the Laws of Tradition" is an excerpt from the instrumental " YYZ" by the Canadian rock band Rush from their 1981 album '' Moving Pictures'', sampled from the live version of "John the Fisherman" which appears on ''Suck on This''. Another ''Suck on This'' sample also appears at the end of "Groundhog's Day"; the "Hey hey, Bob Cock here!" spoken intro from that album's version.

Live performance

Primus supported ''Frizzle Fry'' by opening for

Jane's Addiction Jane's Addiction was an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1985. The band's best known line-up consisted of lead vocalist Perry Farrell, bassist Eric Avery, drummer Stephen Perkins and guitarist Dave Navarro. Jane's Addicti ...

on a North American tour. The album was performed live in its entirety on the band's Hallucino-Genetics Tour in 2004 and a few more times in 2010. During the Hallucino-Genetics Tour, "You Can't Kill Michael Malloy" was featured in its entirety as a short set break, as opposed to merely the excerpt that appears on the album.

Critical reception

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

described the album as "

Don Knotts Jesse Donald Knotts (July 21, 1924February 24, 2006) was an American actor and comedian. He is widely known for his role as Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife on the 1960s sitcom ''The Andy Griffith Show'', for which he earned five Emmy Awards. He als ...

Jr. joins the

Minutemen Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Min ...

." ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' wrote that "echoes of San Francisco's late and (in some quarters) lamented Dead Kennedys can be heard in this S.F. trio's cartoonish vocals and blasts at adult hypocrisy ('To Defy the Laws of Tradition') and mindless conformity ('Too Many Puppies'), but the sound is jazzy speed-metal, not punk." ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' said that "Primus exhibits the delinquent musical tendencies of early Frank Zappa updated to sit comfortably in the modern milieu of bands such as Anthrax and Faith No More". ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' stated that ''Frizzle Fry'' "effectively showcases drummer Tim 'Herb' Alexander's tight, frenetic technique and guitarist Larry LaLonde's aggro-fusion chops." Reviewing the album for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, Ned Raggett noted that "it's pretty easy to see in retrospect how much of a melange went into the group's work. Nods but thankfully few outright steals to everything from

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

's arch humor and

Funkadelic Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1968 and active until 1982. As one of the two flagship groups of George Clinton's P-Funk collective, they helped pioneer the funk music culture of the 1970s.John, ...

's sprawl to

the Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Within a few months of their first gig, the line-up settled as Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussi ...

's early, spare effectiveness crop up and, indeed, so does plenty of

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

." He contended that "something about ''Frizzle Fry'' is ultimately and perfectly of its time and place."

Track listing

Personnel

Writing, performance and production credits are adapted from the album liner notes.

Personnel

Primus

* Les Claypool – vocals, bass, electric upright bass,

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

* Larry LaLonde – electric guitar, acoustic guitar * Tim "Herb" Alexander – drums, percussion

Additional musicians

* Todd Huth – acoustic guitar on "The Toys Go Winding Down" * Sathington Willoughby Orchestra ** Les Claypool a.k.a. "Snap" – banjo, string bass ** Larry LaLonde a.k.a. "Chunker" – archtop acoustic guitar ** Tim Alexander a.k.a. "Herb" – toy organ ** Matt Winegar a.k.a. "Exxon" – toy piano, composer – "You Can't Kill Michael Malloy" ** Todd Huth – acoustic guitar * Stan Hearne – vocals on "Harold of the Rocks"

Production

* Primus – production * Matt "Exxon" Winegar – production * Ron Rigler – engineering * Matt Murman – second engineer * Stephen Marcussen – remastering

Visual Art

* Lance "Link" Montoya – sculpture * "Snap" – airbrushing, cartooning * Paul Haggard – jacket design, photography

Studios

* Different Fur, San Francisco – recording * Marcussen Mastering, Los Angeles – remastering

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1990 debut albums Albums with cover art by Lance Montoya Caroline Records albums Funk metal albums Prawn Song Records albums Primus (band) albums