ETP~! -Les Claypool Frog Brigade - Purple Onion

[Guest TSMAdmin]

I was with a group of friends when I bought this CD, and one of them immediately proclaimed, “The Frog Brigade have a studio album? What’s the point?” Considering that their reputation and popularity have so far been based entirely on their live concerts (their discography up until now consisted solely of two live CDs), it’s a valid question. I’m a big fan of the Brigade’s Live Frogs Set 1, and had high expectations for their studio debut. Although it still delivers for a few songs, on the whole the album is disappointing.

 

While it’s the same band, somehow during the translation in the studio they lost (literally and figuratively) what made them Fearless and Flying. I realize that the songs on the Live Frogs discs were toyed with and messed with live by the band’s members for years and “feeling out” these songs for jams in an attempt at official studio jam tapes would be a waste of reels and CDs, but there isn’t even any sense of free-form flow to the album at all. Most of these tracks are so tightly constructed it’s even hard to tell where and how they could be extended upon in performance; this makes it incredibly difficult to just get into the music, completely the opposite of a live Frog Brigade show. Though spinning it for about a month reveals a few of the tracks are unique and enjoyable on their own right (namely “D’s Diner” with sitar from guest Gabby Gab, “Up on the Roof”, with the longest/most solos on the album and “Barrington Hall”), the only tracks that manage to totally retain the “live feel” are the largely instrumental tracks “Whamola” and “Cosmic Highway”. It’s a mystery, because Les Claypool’s fellow side-project Oysterhead manages to hop, skip and jump away for its entire length, while Purple Onion struggles and fails to bring that same enjoyment.

 

Thematically, it’s very likely I’m misinterpreting Purple Onion’s intent. Whereas the band’s live shows are filled with witty banter and carefree covers, this studio material seems totally different, dead set on getting a point across. The album starts off well on this note with a distorted intro and two different versions of a song, “David Makalaster”, that are musically similar (though “David Makalaster II” has heavier instrumentation and a short tease for those like me who bought this purely expecting a repeat of their live albums), but feature different lyrics that change the voice of the fictional newscaster from one willing to relax, fool the dreamers, and let the world go by to a jaded older man who practically incites the masses to revolt against their own self-destructive sloth. Likewise, “Ding Dang” is totally lyrically driven, telling the (uncharacteristically to-the-point and serious) story of several men who grew up for the worse because of insults and labels from their youth. Yet since this earnest message is attempted amidst songs with Claypool’s trademark nonsensical lyrics and funky bass, it becomes clouded and silly by association. Even if this weren’t the case, who is Claypool aiming his message towards? The majority of his fans will pick this up looking solely for fun, having long given up on fixing the world and just wanting some chill out music, whereas the message and music is far too tame for anyone who needs it to pick it up.

 

With this album, Les Claypool’s tried his hand at having his cake and eating it too. I’ll give him credit for trying, and if split by theme and style, the songs almost work as separate entities, but when they come together it’s obvious the “light songs” are still too dark and the “dark songs” much too light, which leaves a lot of room for improvement and a rather humdrum effort. I hate to condescend and pigeonhole the man for trying something new, but I wanted Live Frogs Set 3, not this mess. Though there are moments on this album that remind me why I love Claypool and the Frogs, I’d still rather have Live Frogs Set 3!

 

Until next time!

Edward Robins

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PS: If you'll notice, my music reviews are in a slightly different style (no informal intro/outro) than my "An Exercise in Poor Taste" DVD reviews, the reason being its more difficult for me to write those type of informalities and relate them to the CD at hand. If prefer one style over the other, I'm more than willing to accomodate, just