My dad has played bass for 30 years and he somehow just found out about Les Claypool. He called me one day to tell me he wanted to go to a Primus concert and I laughed at him. I told him to download some of the music before he made a decision like that. But he was insistant. He downloaded some live concerts of Les in action, and was greatly amused. He just kept going, “the music’s pretty weird, but that guy can play the hell out of a bass.” I let him listen to Of Whales and Woe and he just looked at me and said the same thing.

If you’ve never really listened to Les Claypool, then Of Whales and Woe is going to fly far over your head. I say that because this album feels more like a Primus album than any of his other solo albums have. There’s a song about “Vernon…the Company Man,” and the wonderfully dramatic “Phantom Patriot.” Between chants of “The Phantom Patriot,” Les gets to scream out “He’s come to save the day! He’s come to save the day!” just like he does at shows. This album is full of music that sounds as if Les really wanted to put on this album. He wrangled Skerik in for a lot of sax playing, which almost gives it a Garage A Trois sound at points. Also, it contains the full themesong for the ever-so-popular Adult Swim show, Robot Chicken. This, alone, should convince hoards of fanboys to purchase it. I think that Les is really just enjoying himself a lot right now. This summer, he has shows planned with Oysterhead, Primus, the Frog Brigade, and Les Claypool’s Bucket of Bernie Brains. Of Whales and Woe seems to be his statement about that good vibe.

Buy this album and listen to it a lot.

Grade: A