Weirdo funk-metal trio Primus has announced its eighth studio album, a tribute to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory titled Primus and the Chocolate Factory with the Fungi Ensemble, which will be out on October 21 and is currently available for pre-order. The album will be the Primus' first since 1995's Tales from the Punchbowl to feature its classic line-up of bassist Les Claypool, guitarist Larry LaLonde, and drummer Tim "Herb" Alexander.
Claypool discussed the album's sound with Rolling Stone, saying, "As we started putting it together, especially with the expanded soundscape of having string and vibraphone and marimba, it started sounding to me like one of the early Peter Gabriel records meets Dark Side of the Moon meets the Residents...That's what I get out of it. Obviously that's some big-ass horn-tooting to be doing."
This Willy Wonka homage comes after Primus performed a Wonka-themed concert in California on New Year's Eve. The album's vinyl edition will be chocolate-colored, and five copies will even include a golden ticket inside, though it's not clear yet if the tickets are actually good for anything. The accompanying tour, which kicks off in Pennsylvania in October, will also be heavily Wonka-inspired, complete with an onstage "chocolate room" set.
Check out Primus' appropriately creepy version of the Willy Wonka classic "Pure Imagination":
Here are the dates for Primus' Wonka-themed tour:
10/22: Upper Darby, PA @ Tower Theatre
10/24: Albany, NY @ Palace Theatre
10/25: Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theatre
10/26: Burlington, VT @ Flynn Center for Performing Arts
10/28: Waterbury, CT @ Palace Theater
10/29: Baltimore, MD @ Hippodrome
10/31: New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre
11/01: New Brunswick, NJ @ State Theatre
11/02: Rochester, NY @ Street Armory
11/03: Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore Detroit
11/05: St. Louis, MO @ Peabody Opera House
11/07: Cincinnati, OH @ Taft Theatre
11/08: Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
11/09: Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live
11/11: Miami Beach, FL @ The Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater
11/12: Clearwater, FL @ Ruth Eckerd Hall
11/14: Biloxi, MS @ Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
11/15: Austin, TX @ ACL Live at the Moody Theater
11/16: Dallas, TX @ The Majestic Theatre
11/17: San Antonio, TX @ Majestic Theatre
11/19: Phoenix, AZ @ Orpheum Theater Phoenix
11/21: Los Angeles, CA @ Orpheum Theatre LA
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