PRIMUS Releases 'A Handful Of Nuggs' EP Featuring Cover Of DIO's 'Holy Diver'

PRIMUS has announced "A Handful Of Nuggs", a new special EP available now digitally, with a special-edition 12-inch vinyl release arriving July 22 and pre-orders live now. Leading the release is the EP's focus track "The Ol' Grizz", among the first new studio recordings to feature drummer John Hoffman. "The Ol' Grizz" finds Les Claypool, Larry LaLonde and Hoffman locking into the kind of twisted rhythmic chemistry that has long defined PRIMUS — shifting between high-speed bass runs, warped psychedelic textures, and explosive percussion with the band's unmistakable mix of technical precision and off-center groove.

"A Handful Of Nuggs" also features PRIMUS's cover of DIO's "Holy Diver", sung by Puddles Pity Party, alongside two recent fan favorites from the band's current era: "Little Lord Fentanyl" featuring Maynard James Keenan (TOOL) and "Duchess (And The Proverbial Mind Spread)", recorded live at the Mann Music Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Puddles Pity Party is the singing clown persona of Michael Geier.

Written by late metal icon Ronnie James Dio, "Holy Diver" served as the lead single and title track to his namesake band DIO's 1983 debut album.

The announcement arrives amid a particularly active stretch for Claypool. Today also marks the CD release of THE CLAYPOOL LENNON DELIRIUM's "The Great Parrot-Ox And The Golden Egg Of Empathy", which arrived on vinyl on May 8 and digitally on May 1 via ATO Records. The sprawling 14-song concept album from Les Claypool and Sean Ono Lennon explores A.I., empathy, mortality, free will, and the dangers of optimization without human feeling. The CD edition arrives in an enlarged gatefold seven-inch jacket that highlights the album's artwork and 24-page companion comic created with longtime collaborator Rich Ragsdale.

The DELIRIUM also released a new animated video piece today in collaboration with Paste magazine, featuring actor, comedian, writer, and musician Matt Berry ("What We Do In The Shadows", "Toast Of London") alongside animation by Ragsdale, offering another glimpse into the project's surreal visual world. At the same time, Claypool's FEARLESS FLYING FROG BRIGADE are gearing up for the May 22 release of "Return Of The Live Frogs: Volume 1", a new live collection capturing the band's expansive, improvisational return and the loose, exploratory spirit that has made the FROG BRIGADE one of Claypool's most beloved and unpredictable projects for more than two decades.

Next week, all three projects converge with the launch of the "Claypool Gold Tour", a full-evening summer run bringing together PRIMUS, THE CLAYPOOL LENNON DELIRIUM and LES CLAYPOOL'S FEARLESS FLYING FROG BRIGADE for one genre-bending night. The coast-to-coast tour begins May 20 in Reno, Nevada and runs through July 4 in Napa, California, giving audiences a rare chance to see Claypool move through three distinct corners of his musical universe in a single evening.

"A Handful Of Nuggs" track listing:

01. The Ol' Grizz
02. Holy Diver (feat. Puddles Pity Party)
03. Little Lord Fentanyl (feat. Puscifer)
04. Duchess (And The Proverbial Mind Spread) (Live from the Mann Music Center, Philadelphia, PA)

Hoffman is a Shreveport native who joined the band in 2025 after beating out more than 6,100 applicants in a global audition process dubbed the "Interstellar Drum Derby". Hoffman's deep pocket, wild musical mind, and immediate chemistry with Claypool and LaLonde made him the clear choice.

Photo credit: David Miller