reCAP :: The Claypool Lennon Delirium w/ Dean Ween Group :: 2016.06.18
The Claypool Lennon Delirium finished their first tour at The Capitol Theater on Saturday evening, and focused solely on the new album, Monolith of Phobos.
The band came out, one by one, and the theater went dark. Slowly the lights came on the stage, and the walls are illuminated by stars. The first song laid the groundwork for the show to come. With “There’s No Underwear in Space,” and it’s ethereal sound kept time with the stars, as Egyptian symbols illuminated the walls.
The second song, “Cricket & the Genie (Movement I, The Delirium) combines the lyrics from Claypool and Lennon, and its’ bouncy rhythm is reminiscent of early 1970’s Pink Floyd. The lyrics speak of a prescription drug Genie, and Little Cricket. It was apropos for the trippy psychedelic music from this first song.
The second movement of “Cricket & the Genie,” is darker then it’s previous movement. You can hear the influence of Claypool and his bass intertwining with the lyrics repeating over and over “You oughta try it, you really ought try it…”
Overall, Claypool and Lennon both play in sync with each other, and also apart, making this new band of theirs completely tight sounding. It surprised me how intertwined they were together, allowing each to shine, not one person taking over the others space, etc. The other two band members also put their talents to good use – the drummer is a monster and the keyboardist brought this to new heights with the Moog synthesizer he was playing. This makes a formidable band.
Now, I am not saying this music is easily digestible. It is definitely reminiscent of psychedelic rock from the 60s and 70s. But, the songs speak of modern day issues: guns, Oxycontin, prescription drugs, creepy men, and the state of America now.
We’re reading your mail, and tapping your phone. And if you don’t like it, we’ll send in the drones, Oh say can you see, the twilight’s last gleam The land of the free, the home of the naïve.
This sort of sets the stage of what Claypool and Lennon are discussing in their new album. Lennon stated that “Oxycontin Girl,” is one of their more controversial tunes – and you can see why, with those lyrics such as:
"She was an Oxycontin girl in a heroin world She didn’t know what to do When she ran out of pills she scored on the street And now her lips are turning blue So blue, so blue"
Almost every song have lyrics that are meaningful. The lyrics also counteract against the dreaminess of the music. This show, and the album, is like one of those old-school throwbacks, when there was an arc to the music. Almost like a story arc to the album. I have to say, this whole album reminds me of The Piper At The Gates Dawn and Ummagumma, with a mix of early Frank Zappa.
The crowd, which was mostly Primus fans, cheered loudly when we heard the tease of Floyd’s “Astronomy Domine.” Funny enough. They encored with 1966 Beatles tune,“Tomorrow Never Knows.”
You may like it, you may think it is “interesting,” or you may hate it. You can’t say it’s boring. You can’t say it’s the usual run of the mill jam-band jam for 20 minutes. It is new, brand spanking new music. And, for one, I really enjoyed it.