Primus

Don't worry. You're not the first person who heard a Primus song and immediately thought, Is that guy crazy? His name can't really be Mud, Mu-u-u-mud. Even the band's breakthrough singles ("Jerry Was a Race Car Driver," "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver") sound as if they were written by an asylum's house band. And not just any loony bin act, either; one led by the peerless Les Claypool, a bassist that thumps and thwacks his leads like a lumberjack plowing through logs.

Leave it to Primus. Only the supremely odd trio could turn a classic new wave cut like "Making Plans for Nigel" into three minutes of inspired insanity. The same element of surprise applies to the rest of their snaky, snappy catalogue, especially S**k On This, a live album that doubles as Primus' debut. Even in their infantile stages (most of the record would eventually be given a proper studio run), tracks like "Tommy the Cat" and "Pudding Time" weave their way through funk and prog rock so animated it could be a show on Cartoon Network.

In the storied case of Les Claypool, sausage isn't something you eat alongside a plate of pierogis. It's another name for the groove-riding reunion of Primus' original lineup. As for Oysterhead, it has nothing to do with shucking the deep sea spoils of the day; it's actually a squirrelly supergroup few could predict, featuring former Phish frontman Trey Anastasio and Stewart Copeland of the Police. Zany and "huh?" sum up their theme song ("Mr. Oysterhead") and vibe, which isn't all that removed from the scrambled brain waves of the Les Claypool Frog Brigade or Primus' frantic and freakish fan favorites.

Look, there's a reason why the sleeves of early Primus records look like stills from stop motion animators who haven't slept in days and just mistook a tub of clay for ice cream. Like the sleeves' twisted images of sautéed troll heads (Frizzle Fry) and ghastly white meat (Pork Soda), every groove of Primus music sounds like a step into The Twilight Zone starring Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, and a "boo, scary!" host who wears sunglasses at night and treats his bass the same way Slash and Jimmy Page once manhandled their guitars.