Let’s get this out of the way quickly: Oysterhead is Les Claypool from Primus, Trey Anastasio from Phish and Stewart Copeland from the Police. I can imagine most people won’t bother reading any further, and are either noting to themselves to hit Morninglory ASAP or else yawning and thumbing right on through to see how astrologer Linda C. Black thinks their day is going to turn out.

But if you happen to love reading music reviews or were raised in Amish country, then bear with me while I explain the basic danger inherent in this lineup. Copeland has been fighting cultural irrelevance for nearly two decades while Claypool and Anastasio are monumentally skilled musicians who let sonic auto-eroticism overcome them (Claypool occasionally, Anastasio often).

On the bright side, there’s a kaleidoscope of musical influences brought to this lineup. Anastasio’s guitar work tosses in tidbits of psychedelia, bluegrass, jazz and prog rock, while Claypool brings to the table hillbilly funk, drug references and his patented Stupid Voices. But it’s Copeland, surprisingly, who makes the mix work, adapting his drumming effortlessly to whatever the other two throw down, very rarely giving in to showboating. And this guy has spent the past couple years scoring video games, for chrissake. Go figure.

This album, like spinning around in circles incessantly, will probably appeal more to Phish fans than Primus fans – regardless of which you prefer, you need a certain tolerance for brilliant musicians fucking around to make it through to the honestly brilliant parts. Or you could just spin around until you lose all sense of direction and musical taste entirely.

[DJ Fatkid got an 8! An 8! Biatch!]