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**1/2 Primus

THE BROWN ALBUM

(Interscope)

Like the funk acts they've learned from (P-Funk, etc.), Primus work on groove potential and deal in dark humor. There is also a kind of chopsmanship here that points more to Frank Zappa than to the Silly Peppers. And like most Zappa-style prog monsters, Primus are given to overkill -- i.e., the hour-plus length of The Brown Album, the trio's sixth. Are Primus worth the time?

There's enough good stuff here to cut them some slack, notably the Zeppelinesque guitar riffage of "Pudding Taint" and the Beastie Boys party noise of "The Return of Sathington Willoughby." More important, and for better or worse, you can still spot a Primus tune a mile away, with Les Claypool's ever-present pop-and-boogie bass lines anchoring the mix. But it's that trademark sound that pretty much guarantees The Brown Album won't make any converts: Primus remain one of those singularly styled bands whom people simply love or hate.

-- Joe Harrington