[rating=3.00]
There is an ongoing conversation that perks up every few months after a few rounds of cocktails amongst the music enthusiasts I know. The crux of it is no band/artist has made a perfect “Greatest Hits” album. Obviously there are many reasons for this which makes swell bar chatter. Examples are blurted out, missing songs (due to copyright issues or bad judgment) are mentioned directly after. Next time we get together They Can’t All Be Zingers will be in the mix and while it won’t end our on going debate, it tries pretty damn hard to encapsulate the quirky trio’s career.
The cult of Claypool has worshipped for years at the alter of Primus’s unique sound but greatest hit packages are never for the die-hards, they serve as an intro or a recap of a band you may have missed over the years, in either of these roles …Zingers succeeds. The musicianship on Frizzle Fry classics, such as Herb’s cymbal tap dance in “Too Many Puppies”, remains just as crisp now as in 1990. The crushing GO! break in “Jerry Was a Race Car Driver” hits harder then you may remember, and trippy Tales From the Punchbowl numbers still excite the synapses (“Southbound Pachyderm” being a personal highlight).
The newer material is glossed over, and it would have been nice to include a b-side or a new tune, but if for some reason you don’t know all of these songs already or can’t afford to buy Primus’s first six studio albums (highly recommended), you need to pick up this zinger of a collection from one of the quirkier bands of the last 20 years.
