The Claypool Lennon Delirum show how the AI overthrow could look through a comic concept, full with melodies that still feel human enough for compassion. Easily one of their best in the 3 album releases they’ve had.
I love delving into genres where the musicians are adept at what they’re playing. Its a display of virtuosic capabilities beyond what just general listeners can comprehend, while they even know the place the canvas’ cotton was combed. This is a supergroup by every measure: the bass Buddha called Les Claypool from Primus with John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s son, Sean Ono Lennon. Both can play pretty much every dominant instrument you hear in a live band, and to think this all started with a jam after wining and dining. This is The Claypool Lennon Delirium, with their third album, The Great Parrot-Ox and the Golden Egg.
The psychedelia thrill
If you’re a fan of King Gizzard or Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, or Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, these names should not surprise you. The album itself is a surrealist sanctuary; they take you to a place even acid wouldn’t dare. When this duo started with Monolith of Phobos, they were already deep within a concept that becomes more relevant than ever now. Perhaps that’s why The Claypool Lennon Delirium has returned after 7 years when AI is opening the doors to damnation. You didn’t ask, but what’s their relationship with AI? Allow me to take you on a journey you never asked but will be glad to have joined.
The fascinating theory for this album
This album is centred around the theme of The Paperclip Maximiser- a concept by Swedish philosopher Nick Bostrom. Bostrom illustrates AI’s lack of empathy for humans with a simple task – the AI being told to make as many paperclips as possible. As AI pursues this goal with total efficiency, it will convert all available matter, including humans, into paperclips. This is prime Les Claypool territory. Imagine this solid bedrock to make great music with.
Opening with the spaced-out Pro-Log, you enter this world of abstraction and dystopia. If you’ve heard any music with Claypool in it, you know his bass register has some spell to it. In WAP (What a Predicament), you’re treated to Sean’s voice, a spitting image (or sound in this case) of his father. You can definitely make The Beatles connection, but it goes into different progadelic avenues. Though the central melody is a simple jam, the harmonies are what are interesting. You get a bass hook you’ll remember as the core progression, with simple drums and grooves.
The lore, comic and music
Don’t be fooled; this isn’t a prog rock duo that sits and takes a dump on contemporary music. This band has WILLOW as well, off her successful pop-punk journey and path as her own musician. From the warm, funky grooves of Wake Up Call to the emotive tides of Meat Machines, there’s something cartoonish they are still able to bring to this horrible reality we might actually have a chance of experiencing. The Claypool Lennon Delirium use characters through their music to show the perspective of this AI called Hippard O Campus Jr (the protagonist) and Hippard Sr (the villain creator of Cliptron, the sentient AI). The others are Colonel O’Coren (Hipp Jr.s sidekick) and the mythical deux ex machina being The Great Parrot-Ox. The album isn’t just some groovy music; it’s humanity’s diminishing lack of empathy, which this powerful being will try to restore.
Jams, grooves and other thrills
Even while keeping this messaging fun and light and extremely difficult to digest at times, Claypool and Lennon don’t lose on the melody. Meat Machines has one of my favourite choruses. sections in prog songs in decades, along with melodic backgrounds that reminded me of the Succession (HBO series) theme. When you’re seeing the world from the perspective of the AI, there is an element of doom that you can hear in the music. The bass is chunky, almost splitting the track into sections. From the perspective of Hippo Jr., you hear philosophies from inside his head, in wonderment. As they proceed on their mythical journey to save humans, Troll Bait comes next. Leave it to Les Claypool to devise something intensely comical yet dark and deplorable.
Songs like this become a fun jam, with chorus and verse sections having entire operatic vibes. A recognisable bass in Simplest of Deeds will craft the kind of melodies that play in a nursery rhyme-like manner, almost mocking the loop AI tends to take. An impeccably presented album, I have enjoyed the narrative so far. I would encourage you to follow Rich Ragsdale on Facebook for this album’s comic also, which will be available soon. When you’re on to Heart of Chrome, you are actually shown the perspective of AI, which believes what it’s told the same way humans are. Then are we really any different?
Bass and melody power
As always, the avant-garde art of thought and deeper philosophies are something Sean Lennon and Les Claypool have written through well. This is their penchant: being able to use their genre to translate an entire tale into such a powerful concept album. Rather than having quick time changes or melodies that might complicate the scenario, the duo are able to capture a lot more than just the essence of the core concept. Tracks like Through the Horizon show this great bassist giving us something in the low register that is intense, groovy and yet sinister. It depicts change yet shows us this infinite paradox that AI would be stuck in.
The darker passages are just as entertaining as these melodies from the perspective of the protagonist. Mantra of the Manatee lightens the mood while telling us more about the sea creatures. When WILLOW becomes The Golden Egg of Empathy, you feel the melodies with the intense complement that Sean and Les can create with that rich bassline and instrumental detail. Talkbox parts made this a really special groove, with Claypool at the top of his game as usual. As expected, the final boss, Cliptopia, comes in next. It’s utopia for no one but the clip-generating villain. It’s heavy and still has the video game aesthetic that keeps your ears glued to the cans.
Closing comments/comic close
I could talk about Melody of Entropy and the gift that is It’s a Wrap, but it’s a journey you get to take by yourself. It’s philosophical, emotional and definitely makes you think about the present and future. The Claypool Lennon Delirium are here to remind you to think about our own good, humanity as a whole, while entertaining you during the lesson. The delirium exists in what we choose to do next:
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