#363 PRIMUS Pork Soda Album Review

“Chimpanzee, he said it…he said chimpanzee…”   PRIMUS is always a fun stop on the road to Relaxerville (especially if you’ve got something to inhale), 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 that was 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 & 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.    Discover the difference between low rise jeans & high-rise jeans (and find out why one variety is (allegedly) better than the other), understand that Amber Alerts are “only important if your girlfriend’s name is Amber”, and “go get you some weird” before you JOIN US as we crack open a can of PORK SODA and marvel at the wonderous weirdness of PRIMUS. Visit www.metalnerdery.com/podcast for more on this episode Help Support Metal Nerdery https://www.patreon.com/metalnerderypodcast Leave us a Voicemail to be played on a future episode: 980-666-8182 Metal Nerdery Tees and Hoodies – metalnerdery.com/merch and kindly leave us a review and/or rating on your favorite Podcast app Follow us on the Socials: Facebook - Instagram - TikTok Email: [email protected] Can’t be LOUD Enough Playlist on Spotify Metal Nerdery Munchies on YouTube @metalnerderypodcast   Show Notes & Time Stamps: (00:01): “No, these are 4.5…”/ “That’s what it sounds like…when dubs cry…or when dubs fly…”/ “I am now listening to the Duff McKagen audio book…”  (NOTE: There are two books – It’s So Easy *And Other Lies* & How To Be a Man (And Other Illusions) / ***WARNING: #listenerdiscretionisadvised *** / “Waste not, want not…”/ ***WELCOME BACK TO THE BUNKERPOON CENTER FOR METAL EXCELLENCE AND THE METAL NERDERY PODCAST!!!*** / #surprisebuttons /  ***PATREON US at www.patreon.com/metalnerderypodcast *** / “Is it...what?”/ “Not that there’s anything wrong with that…because it’s not June anymore…”/  “(Aussie) Dave, let us know if ‘floral cunt’ or ‘right cunt’ is better…”/  ***SOCIAL MEDIA US at #metalnerderypodcast on #YouTube #Facebook #Instagram & #TikTok /  ***EMAIL US at [email protected] and VOICEMAIL US at 980-666-8182!!!***   (05:05): “There’s a lot of excitement in the Forbidden camp…”/ “Did you say dropped?”/ “Forbidden was always kinda proggy…”/ #Forbidden PSYCLOPS (Forbidden – 10/22/2026) “He’s wearing a #KISS shirt…that’s awesome!”/ “There it is!”/ “Sounds like Forbidden…”/ “I’m kinda digging the KISS basketball jersey…I think that’s Bill’s favorite part of the video…”/ “Oh wow, there IS a tracklisting…”   (10:50): “Let’s do some weirdness…” / “Primus is a fun stop in Relaxerville…if you’ve got something to set on fire and inhale, you should totally do that with the Primus…/  #TheDocket METAL NERDERY PODCAST PRESENTS:  PRIMUS – PORK SODA / #Primus #PorkSoda “Released (appropriately) on April 20, 1993…”/  (NOTE:  Suck On This is a live album that came out before Frizzle Fry…and John The Fisherman was on bolth albums.) “They should almost call it psychedelic metal…because in a weird way that’s kinda what it is…” / “The cool thing about a Primus album…even for people who have never done drugs, that’s kinda what it’s like to do drugs…” / “Zima soup?”   (15:47): PORK CHOP’S LITTLE DITTY (instrumental) / “This is all it is…and then…”/ MY NAME IS MUD / “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…”/ “That’s not weird enough…do it again…”/  “To me, it sounds like jazz…like he makes it up as he goes along…improv jazz…”/  #amberalert / “That’s only important if your girlfriend’s name is Amber…”   (19:15): WELCOME TO THIS WORLD / “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…”   (22:55): BOB / “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? & How?”/ “Imagine…if Les (Claypool) would have joined Metallica?”   (28:55): DMV / “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…”   (31:37): THE OL’ DIAMOND BACK STURGEON (FISHERMAN’S CHRONICLES, PART 3) / #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 90’s RUSH…”/ “The 90’s were pretty hot…”/ “Oh, the 80’s are terrible…”/ #bighair /  “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…”   (34:02): NATURE BOY / “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   (39:02): WOUNDED KNEE (instrumental) /  #relaxerbreak #ASMR / “It’s definitely got relaxer vibes, for sure…spark up and hit play.”/ PORK SODA / “That’s the weirdest vocals in history…”/ “Even the vocals are kinda jazzy…”   (41:17): THE PRESSMAN / “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   (48:04): MR. KRINKLE / “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…”   (51:05): THE AIR IS GETTING SLIPPERY / “That is just ridiculous…” /  #RussellsReflectionsEncoreEdition #TheGoodies /  “That’s like carnival music…sideshow music…”/ HAMBURGER TRAIN (instrumental) / “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…”   (55:50): PORK CHOP’S LITTLE DITTY / “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…”/ HAIL SANTA / #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…”/ THANK YOU FOR JOINING US!!!  “Go get you some weird…go get you some Primus…find you some psilly…” #untilthenext #outroreel