Last month, when Primus released its “Green Naugahyde” album, it was the band’s first full-length studio album in 11 years (the group issued an EP in 2003).

But Primus fans needn’t fear—these guys have not lost a step, or their gift for creating the distinctive, chaotic sonic blast that made them alternative-rock heroes in the 1990s. Their sound fuses knotty, Zappa-esque arrangements with darkly whimsical narratives, twisted punk-funk grooves and guitar freak-outs.

Les Claypool—the group’s singer, bassist and most prolific songwriter—spent the better part of the last decade working on other projects—like the supergroup Oysterhead (along with Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio and Police drummer Stewart Copeland) and Colonel Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade; as well as solo, experimental projects that saw him collaborating with a conga line of non-rock musicians.

Plus, since its last album, Primus has a new drummer—Jay Lane, who was actually in the first incarnation of the group, in the late 1980s, but left before they recorded their first album. He replaces Tim “Herb” Alexander. Lane also played with Claypool in the side project Sausage in the mid-90s.

Due to the return of Lane, Primus’s new music is more reminiscent of its early output than anything that came during the group’s latter period, in the late ‘90s.

“Jay helped us shape our sound from the beginning, so even though he left before we made the first album, the feel and the groove of those first couple of records was a reflection of his contribution,” says Claypool.

“I think the new record has more of a bounce, due to his drumming style, compared to the more hard-rocking rhythms on the later albums,” adds Claypool, who joins his Primus-mates at the Michigan Theater for a show on Tuesday.

Longtime Primus guitarist Larry “Ler” LaLonde—who has always cited Zappa as an influence—is still on board, so he still brings that brand of heady, challenging, progressive-jazz-rock guitar to the mix.

Claypool says his time spent away from creating new Primus music recharged him, creatively.

“That 10 years was an incredible period of growth for me,” he says, during a phone interview from a Boston tour stop. “I made several albums with incredible musicians, I wrote a novel, I made a film….So I also brought fresh ears and a fresh perspective to the new Primus music.”

He also says that the reason Primus was mostly absent from the studio for more than a decade was because “I’d always said that Primus would go on until it wasn’t fun any more, and by the end of the ‘90s, it started to not be as much fun; it started to feel stagnant. And I’ve found that, in life, things do tend to go in 8 to 10 year cycles—whether it’s a band, or your interests, or friends, or hobbies….”

The songs on “Naugahyde” still employ the kind of amusingly surreal references and characters that Claypool employed to maximum effect in the ‘90s, when the band released albums with titles like “Sailing the Seas of Cheese,” “Tales from the Punch Bowl” and “Pork Soda”—and wrote songs with titles like “Shake Hands with Beef,” “Pudding Time” and their 1995 hit “Wynonna’s Big Brown Beaver.”

And then of course, there was their debut album, “Suck on This,” which led to the “Primus Sucks!” catch phrase that fans would satirically chant at shows to voice their approval. (The slogan was also emblazoned on a T-shirt that was required attire for any self-respecting Primus fan.)

But the new disc also is infused with social and cultural commentary: Claypool proclaims his scorn for runaway materialism on “Eternal Consumption Engine,” and expresses his disdain for selling out on “HOINFODAMAN.” (Translation: Whoring For the Man.) On the latter, he sings, “I used to be a pimp, but now I’m ho’in for the man, ho’in for the advertising man.”

And “Moron TV” reprises one of Claypool’s long-standing themes—his mocking of dumbed-down popular culture. “There’s going to be mooo-ron TV,” he repeatedly chants, not resisting the temptation to engage in some punnery.

“The Last Salmon Man,” meanwhile, engages in more social commentary, while also continuing the Primus tradition of always having a song about fish or fishing on every album. On this one, Claypool muses about a man who promises to take over his father’s fishing boat, and continues to fish the coastal waters even though the salmon stock has become depleted. Musically, the song is a muscular funk-rocker, with LaLonde stretching out on an expansive solo, and Claypool offering up an atmospheric, space-rock bass section.

“Jilly’s on Smack” is a dark tale, which Claypool has said was inspired by a real-life tragedy in which a friend of his died of a drug overdose. “Jilly’s on smack / And she won’t be coming back / For the holidays,” intones Claypool in his signature nasal vocal yelp. This tale is given an aptly ominous musical treatment, with Claypool using a bow on an upright bass to provide a more darkly atmospheric feel. But in typical Primus fashion, it also balances the brooding darkness with a sonic-blast section, in this case an intricate, reverb-soaked guitar riff from LaLonde accompanied by Claypool’s distorted fuzz-bass undertones.

Primus has always been drawn to that mix of humor and darkness. Claypool cites Roald Dahl as a childhood inspiration for that combination, and points to the films of the Coen brothers as a more recent reference point.

“Humor has always been a big defense mechanism in my family,” says Claypool. “There’s always been a strong element of humor, and a lot of us are funny, but there’s also been a lot of loss and tragedy in my family, and substance abuse. Like, I had an uncle who did speed for 30 years, went to prison, died at 50. So he obviously wasn’t someone you’d give your car keys to, but the guy was just hilarious. And I have a cousin in prison.

“But we’ve always moved through it with sarcasm and humor. Satire is a powerful tool. The characters that have moved in and out of our songs have often been tragic, but they’re also compelling and oddly humorous.”

Kevin Ransom, a freelance writer who covers music for AnnArbor.com, has interviewed Les Claypool four times over the last 16 years, dating back to 1995. He can be reached at KevinRansom10@aol.com.