Primus — A Handfull Of Nuggs

Primus — A Handfull Of Nuggs — 12 September 2026

Primus have released a new EP, A Handfull Of Nuggs, via AFO Records on 12 September 2026, a compact burst of the band’s peculiar energy that nods back to the Frizzle Fry era while hinting at their first full album in a decade.

The four‑song set lands after a run of reunion line‑ups and long silences: the band that began in El Sobrante in 1984 made its name by refusing easy classification — part funk, part prog, part punk, and full of Les Claypool’s idiosyncratic bass theatre. A Handfull Of Nuggs wears that history proudly, trading grand statements for tight, playful grooves and oddball flourishes.

Highlights include a ripping take on Dio’s "Holy Diver" featuring the cult clown Puddles Pity Party, and originals that lean into skittering slap bass, warped harmonies and the trio’s trademark rhythmic mischief. The EP’s tone is deliberate: short, sharp, and unmistakably Primus.

“We became the beaver band.” — Les Claypool

That offhand line from Claypool — a wry nod to the strange career moment when "Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver" made Primus a household curiosity — captures the band’s uneasy relationship with mainstream attention. Despite MTV‑era singles like "Jerry Was A Race Car Driver" and "Tommy The Cat" and a high‑profile gig writing the South Park theme in 1996, Primus have always remained their own weird thing.

Personnel shifts have coloured the band’s output: the classic trio of Claypool, Larry "Ler" LaLonde and Tim "Herb" Alexander has rotated through several returns and departures, and recent studio talk has named John "Hoffer" Hoffman as the next stickman in line. Their last full‑length, The Desaturating Seven, arrived in 2017; A Handfull Of Nuggs feels like a warmup and a reminder that the group still favours risk over formula.

For fans, the EP matters because it proves Primus can still surprise without abandoning what made them distinctive — odd storylines, muscular low end and an appetite for turning strangers into believers. If A Handfull Of Nuggs is a clue, a bolder, longer Primus statement could be next on the horizon.