Schwim Dandy

I’m just hopping from one shuttered instance to another.

  • 4 Posts
  • 7 Comments
Joined 6 days ago
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Cake day: June 4th, 2025

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  • I think there’s a pass in effect when the band itself started the catch phrase. It’s just a funny little tongue-in-cheek joke between the band and fans.

    In December 1989, Primus recorded their first studio album: Frizzle Fry, which the band self-funded with the profits from sales of Suck on This.[11][18] In 1990, the band signed a one-album deal with Caroline Records to release Frizzle Fry on condition that Caroline also obtained the rights to reissue Suck on This.[13][19] The band then spent the year touring North America and Europe in support of bands such as 24-7 Spyz, the Pixies and Jane’s Addiction,[21] and soon attracted attention from a number of major record labels.[9][13][18] They signed to Interscope Records in 1991.[11][13][19]

    It was during these early years that the band developed their iconic catchphrase “Primus sucks”.[11][22] According to Claypool, this began as fans of the band would compliment them, and Claypool would reply “Nah, we suck”.[11] The band then started introducing themselves on stage by saying “We’re Primus, and we suck”,[19] and fans quickly adopted the phrase, shouting “Primus sucks” at the group as a sign of affection.[11][13] Audiences also began chanting the phrase at the band’s concerts, both before the start of the show and as a call for an encore.[19][22] The band embraced it and began printing and selling t-shirts with “Primus sucks” written on them.[19][22] Claypool, talking about the phrase, said “I think it’s the greatest thing […] somebody can come right up to me and say, ‘You guys really suck.’ And I would just take it as a compliment.”[19]