Quick Hits, Vol. 152 (Primus, Pearl Jam, The Killers, Willie Nelson)

Primus - The Desaturating Seven.  Primus, man.  These weirdos were my jam back in high school.  I still use Sailing the Seas of Cheese to rock out while I'm cooking with some frequency.  If you've never chopped veggies while gyrating to "Tommy the Cat," while your kids look on in horror, then you have never truly lived your highest and best life.  TOMMY THE CAT IS MY NAME!  AND I SAY UNTO THEE!  HEY BEBE DO YA WANNA GET DOWN WIT ME?  HEY BEBE!  HEY BEBAAAAYYY!  
So, the dudes continue to make super weird stuff that leans heavily on one of the best bass guitars in the business.  From a few listens of "The Seven," this might be a concept album about the colors of the rainbow come to life as goblins?  I dunno.  But bits of that track make me think of Rush, something about the nimble plucking of the bass.  Each track is named "The" something, like "The Valley" and "The Trek" and "The Seven."  I really like "The Trek," because it sounds very much like the Primus of old.

Oh God.  That guy reading the book in the pig head mask.  Not OK.  Not OK.  But now this got me curious enough and I understand this now - there is a children's book called The Rainbow Goblins, about goblins who are trying to eat the rainbow, and this album is an interpretation of that entire book.  Again, Primus, man.  Making an entire album based on a weird children's book.  Anyway, I dig that thumping bass trundle and the squiggly guitar work on that track.  I enjoyed running through this a number of times, but if I'm being honest, I'll stick to the old Primus and let this one go.

Pearl Jam - Let's Play Two Soundtrack.  I still need to get to work on that post about my favorite band, because listening to this mega-awesome live album makes me want to sell everything and follow PJ like an old school Deadhead nomad.  I got goosebumps about 93 times listening to this, first because it is awesome, second because I'm remembering old times I've seen them live.  "Go" absolutely rocks the hell out - the guitar work in the solo is seriously awesome.  Something about the intro to "Release," talking about some dude named John who is going through some stuff who waited in line for days to be front row for this show, and then the visceral power of that song, shit, its doing it to me again right now.  If I'm tearing up at my desk listening to this for the 10th time or so, I feel like I would have been a blubbering idiot if I had heard this live at Wrigley.  The band and Eddie sound fantastic, but the best part of this to me if how you can hear the crowd singing along and hanging on every moment.  Even on the songs I don't know as well, like the opener "Low Light," the crowd is there with Eddie on every syllable and it makes the tune sound rad.
Interestingly, none of these songs have many listens.  I think this whole album freaking rules.  I guess a lot of people aren't that in to a live album, but this is the good stuff.  The tunes are the "soundtrack" for a documentary about some concerts PJ did at Wrigley Field during the 2016 season (when the Cubs finally won their World Series).

Look at that crowd!  Holy smokes, that looks like the most fun concert of all time.  Just got full body goosebumps again, watching a dumb trailer for a movie about a concert.  I'm on some old man emotional shit right now.  I can't find many good videos from this on YouTube, so here is the best one I can find, of "Corduroy."

I can remember the last time I saw them play live, and screaming out the "Nothing's Changed!  Absolutely Nothing's Changed!" lines with 50,000 other people, and it was super cool.  I will say, F the guy who starts whistling off beat at about 4:21.  Dildo.  Man, that is still the good stuff.  Crush it up and soak it in saline and shoot it right into my earholes.  Keep this album.

The Killers - Wonderful Wonderful.  This album is surprisingly good.  I've already documented my distaste for the obnoxiously bombastic "The Man," and there are some other tracks on here where the lyrics are likewise pretty terrible ("Tyson v. Douglas" being the glaring example), but the music itself is mostly really fun, driving rock and roll soaked in 80's synths.  Very fun.  "The Man" has a great tune to it.  "Run for Cover" should be used on road trip mix tapes.  Love the sound of the opener, "Wonderful Wonderful," with this slinky, ominous bass line that sounds like something from Joshua Tree era U2.  But on the other end of the album, "Money on Straight" leaves both the good music and the good lyrics idea in the dirt, for a real bummer of an album closer.  The album feels short, at only 43 minutes, it goes away quickly.  The top track (when ignoring The Man) is "Run for Cover," so here you go.

I mean, WTF is up with those lyrics?

What have you gathered to report to your progenitors?
Are your excuses any better than your senator's?
He held a conference and his wife was standing by his side
He did her dirty but no-one died
I saw Sonny Liston on the street last night
Black-fisted and strong singing Redemption Song
He motioned me to the sky
I heard heaven and thunder cry

What are we even talking about there?  Trying really hard to be deep or something, but I don't see that anything in there is actually deep.  Weird.  The rest of the song doesn't do much better, just like random phrases patched together by Google translate or something.  I think, while I enjoy the tunes as background fodder, each time I really listen to them I'm left confused or wanting, so I'll let this one go.

Willie Nelson - God's Problem Child.  I love when Willie sounds like the old school, good Willie.  The last time I heard him live, he was just tired sounding, kind of speak-singing his lyrics and not really even trying all that hard.  Made me worry that the end was nigh.  But this one has a good sound and nice vocal tone.  "Old Timer" is a beaut.  "Delete and Fast Forward" is annoying, although it is apparently about Trump winning the election (although that is a pretty opaque message).  "Still Not Dead" is pretty funny, a song about how Nelson keeps waking up to find out that the Internet says he's dead but he's not actually dead.  The classic sounding track, with a big pile of Willie's trademark guitarwork in the middle, is the title track.

A lot of this style on here (and in Nelson's last few albums) with the bluesy-type songs, less of the traditional country sound and more of this chilled and swampy sounding stuff.  Nice album overall, but honestly doesn't move the needle much for me.