Primus and Gogol Bordello lose steam at the Uptown last night

Most bands can be broken down to into its essential elements. (For example, Silversun Pickups sound like Smashing Pumpkins doing a Sonic Youth impression — whether it’s bad or awesome is your call.) For Primus, all you can say is, “Well, they sound like Primus.” Sometimes sounding too much like Primus can be a bad thing, though.

As the heroes of my high school years, Les Claypool was a shining beacon of bizarre in the mundane fog of my teenage existence. When I caught them at the Uptown last night, much to my surprise and disappointment, I found a more jammy, less weird band in its place.