If It's Too Loud...

I don't believe Sean Lennon has previously outright rejected being compared to his father the way other musicians with famous musician parents have, but he never actually encouraged it. That seemed to change earlier this year with the release of The Claypool Lennon Delirium's Monolith of Phobos , his most Beatles-like work yet. Back in August, the band (which also includes Les Claypool, obviously) played at the House of Blues in Boston. I wasn't able to make the show, but luckily WGBH's Front Row Boston  did, and they captured an absolutely mind-melting cover of "Tomorrow Never Knows." It's a pure psychedelic showcase for Lennon. He basically has the voice of John, the guitar chops of George, and the noise rock pedigree of someone who's toured with Sonic Youth. It's nearly eight minutes of wonderful, and you need to hear this. What's truly bizarre is that Sean Lennon has been dismissed for just about two decades as just being John Lennon'...

You would probably assume that anything that either Les Claypool or Sean Lennon get involved in is going to be weird. Since their debut album is called Monolith of Phobos  and the first single is "Cricket and the Genie (Movement 1, The Delirium," you're right. It's weird. But, it's easy to forget that both Lennon and Claypool have some serious pop sensibilities. Primus have had some moderate hits, and Sean Lennon's Into the Sun  was one of the most underrated albums of the late 90s. The song is pretty bouncy, with a killer grooved out bass line (of course,) and while it is trippy, it's trippy in a pretty normal way. If there was still a thing as modern rock radio in 2016, this would be a candidate for song of the summer. So it's weird, but it's not that weird. Except for the flute solos. Flute solos are pretty much always weird. The Claypool Lennon Delirium's debut album (which also features Money Mark on keyboards,)  Monolith of Phobos, ...