Last year experimental rock giants Primus played a show with a lesser-known psychedelic pop act called The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, fronted by none other than that old son-of-a-Beatle Sean Ono Lennon. During a backstage jam Sean found some serious common ground with Primus bandleader, and idiosyncratic bass-player extraordinaire, Les Claypool, and the seeds for The Claypool Lennon Delirium were sown. The pair were clearly itching to explore their musical conversation further for only a year later we have the duo’s début album Monolith Of Phobos, released on the 3 June, shortly after Mars, orbited by the moon Phobos (home of the famed monolith), reached it's closest position to earth for 11 years. The planets were certainly aligned for this collaboration. Last year when Lennon set off to Claypool's guesthouse-cum-studio (and vineyard apparently) in Sebastopol, California, he was expecting they might just write a few songs, but two weeks later they had the entire album in the bag. ??

The title track sets the scene, out of psychedelic waves of abstract guitar and bass noises mysterious sci-fi melodies emerge weaved around Claypool's distinctly percussive bass playing style, which tends to sit up front throughout the album, while the often simple drumming takes a back seat, with simple grooves holding time, leaving space for the bass to work its magic. There's an almost nursery-rhyme style delivery to the vocals, considering Buzz Aldrin's fascination with visiting Phobos to explore the monolith. Science fiction fans will immediately think of 2001 A Space Odyssey when they see the term 'monolith', but Mars' moon Phobos has a very much real building-sized rock which scientists, with support from the famed astronaut, have proposed visiting. The album continues with a two part song 'Cricket And The Genie' which has a similar groove to Tame Impala's 'Elephant' in its first movement, almost glam with powerful offbeat hits. The song is more progressive (as you might have guessed with it coming in two 'movements') and even more psychedelic; it's looser and takes the listener on a real journey as it explores the problems of big pharmaceutical companies through a fantastical tale. The second movement repeats the dark refrain of 'you really gotta try it' over and over again. ??

'Mr Wright' was put forward as a lead track to promote the album, and it certainly has a bass-line that is instantly recognisable as Claypool in full Primus mode, the bass at double pace while the drums groove lazily in half-time behind. Lennon's vocals are, again, in full-on dark nursery-rhyme mode, a style that reminds me a little of his father – but it's hard not to think of the monolith of John when considering the work of his son, a shadow he's done admirably well to escape from throughout his career. 'Mr Wright' discusses a character who, perhaps, ought to have been called Mr Wrong, a creeper who likes to watch people sleep, shower and even sets up little cameras to watch them pee – perhaps a little reference to Chuck Berry, who famously (allegedly) did just that in his Southern Air restaurant at the end of the 80s. It ought to be mentioned how perfectly the bass-playing is matched with psychedelic guitar work throughout the album, Lennon clearly has a skill for playing the (supposedly) wrong notes at the right time, much like Claypool. ??

For 'Boomerang Baby' the bass takes a bit more of a back seat while steady guitars and melodic keyboards dominate, with a lyric touching on the interference of technology in relationships. 'Breath Of A Salesman' is another off-beat bass funk with fabulous guitar work, and some very Beatlesy production on the backing vocals. This one sounds like a Claypool lead vocal to me, although it's interesting how well their voices work together, either trading places in counter-point, like on 'Mr Wright' or harmonising as they do here. There's a telling moment in the epic psychedelic exploration that takes up the six minutes of 'Captain Lariat'. The song strips down at the end to Lennon on his own, just guitar and vocal, following the progressive melody line when suddenly he stops after a mistake to say, “ah fuck it, one more time”, followed by Claypool saying, “keep going”. It's a really revealing moment, I find, where we're given an insight into the process. With modern computer-based recording the opportunity is there to come up with your ideas and then record them as quickly and as freely as possible, to later be edited and sculpted into the final product. I suspect this is how these guys have worked and it certainly would explain the album's fresh and instantaneous feel. 'Ohmerica' reminds me a bit of Beck. Melodically it's like one of his folkier numbers, like something from Mutations, but there are all these weird bits of idiosynchronous backing vocals, a funky slap bass and clavichord that take it into a different dimension.

??After a bit of free-from bass meandering, 'Oxycontin Girl' comes in as a late-album highlight, returning to the theme of the evils of big-pharma, this time telling the tragic tale of a girl hooked on the heroin substitute Oxycontin, which seems to leave as many victims in its wake as the drug addiction it was designed to help people recover from. It's suitably dark and again features that sing-song vocal Lennon does so well, there's a darkly fluid clavichord progression that creates tension throughout. 'Bubbles Burst' is led by a strong melancholy melody, with a phasey vocal treatment that once again makes it hard not to think of The Beatles. Here it's Claypool's ability to use the bass guitar almost as a lead melodic instrument that transports this track to somewhere new, and there's another opportunity to enjoy Lennon's stellar lead guitar work. The dark lyrics explore the tragic life of Michael Jackson's monkey Bubbles, as he is sent at a young age to live on the Neverland ranch. It's one of those bizarre seldom-considered side-stories to popular culture – the perfect theme for a Claypool/Lennon song, it would seem. The music video, featuring The Mighty Boosh's Noel and Michael Fielding as a sinister Michael Jackson and Bubbles respectively, compliments the dark, surreal themes expertly. 'There's No Underwear In Space' closes the album with a sprawling nightmarish instrumental, done in a fairly minimal style. The synthesiser melodies and arpeggiated guitar sequence are cut from the school of sci-fi epic, but the percussion is almost non-existant. It's a great psyche outro, suitable to close the album and rolling nicely out of 'Bubbles Burst'. ??

As musical conversations go this has certainly been a most fertile one. Claypool and Lennon certainly have complimentary muses, both musically and lyrically, they manage to marry intelligence and playfulness in equal measure throughout the record. It's refreshing to hear an album that has such fluidity, just these two guys with bellies full of Claypool wine, playing around and nailing it in the process. There is a looseness to the record, and, compared to lots of modern music, a sparseness and lightness to the production that allows this album to sit in its own space. The duo are off on an extensive tour this summer, here's hoping there are plenty more inspirational backstage jams to be had, as I for one am eager to hear what comes next! ??
Adam Kidd

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