Primus - Primus & The Chocolate Factory With The Fungi Ensemble

Limited edition gold vinyl reissue

Primus' Willy Wonka-themed eighth studio album

Primus and its frontman, Les Claypool, are no strangers to covering other artists' material. Primus has released two EPs of cover songs over the years, and Claypool previously put out an album under the name Duo de Twang that was almost all covers of both his own and others' material.

But Primus and the Chocolate Factory blows away Live Frogs Set 2 in terms of scope and ambition. As implied by the title, this record consists of Primus (buttressed by mallet percussion and cello) essentially playing through the soundtrack of the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Most of this record works very well, at least from the perspective of someone who already likes Primus. A fan of the movie who isn't familiar with the band may not get much out of Primus and the Chocolate Factory beyond frustration. What Claypool and company have done here, effectively, is to play on people's fuzzy memories of the film as something dark and sinister. To be sure, there's a nasty undercurrent to the story, courtesy of original author Roald Dahl and Gene Wilder's droll performance as Wonka. But the music, for the most part, is largely big, bright, Broadway-style production numbers. Primus wants to take those memories of darkness, though, and recreate the music from that perspective.

Side A

1. Hello Wonkites

2. Candy Man

3. Cheer Up Charlie

4. Golden Ticket

5. Lermaninoff

6. Pure Imagination

Side B

1. Oompa Augustus

2. Semi-Wondrous Boat Ride

3. Oompa Violet

4. I Want It Now

5. Oompa Veruca

6. Wonkmobile

7. Oompa TV,

8. Farewell Wonkites

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