Ween

Bruce Springsteen used the Jersey Shore as the backdrop for his tragic-heroic tales of everyday people in nowhere places. Ween, as you might expect, have a slightly different take on the proud coastline between New York and Atlantic City, the place where they recorded much of their new album, The Mollusk. Gene and Dean are more interested in dead jellyfish, rusted beer cans, flotsam and jetsam, dirty syringes and other assorted detritus that washes up. As for the kind people who live near the water? Ween's only interested in the ones who lurk at amusement park freak shows--and even then, only the really twisted ones. The Mollusk was made between rounds of surf-fishing for bluefish and bass--both before and after the water pipes burst in their winter beach house/studio, leaving recording equipment adrift in an indoor flood. Naturally, the album sounds thoroughly soaked. This is Ween's 'wet' album, in much the same way last year's 12 Golden Country Greats was their Nashville album. Songs like "The Golden Eel" and "Ocean Man" mine the water motif quite literally, while the hilarious title track and "Polka Dot Tail" take it one step further, the first by aping the dopey Brit folk mysticism of Donovan's "Atlantis" and the second by lumbering whimsically like "Yellow Submarine." Other tracks, such as the opening ditty "I'm Dancing in the Show Tonight," are more impressionistically soaked: the piano notes sprinkle lightly, the tuba plods like a foot through mud, and the vocals warp as if they were accidentally thrown into the washing machine. Though they're good enough songwriters to play it straight and almost get away with it ("It's Gonna Be" sounds pulled from the Peter Cetera songbook), the Ween boys are at their best on songs like "Mutilated Lips," when they're foraging through the grotesque, the surreal, the outright nasty--anything that titillates their sick sense of humor. They're still guys who get off on weird sounds (such as "Pink Eye"'s vacuum cleaner melody and dog bark percussion) and wiener jokes ("Waving My Dick in the Wind"). And what's most fun for us is hearing how much fun it still seems to be for them.


The Mollusk

I'm Dancing in the Show Tonight (LP版)

The Mollusk (LP版)

Polka Dot Tail (LP版)

I'll Be Your Jonny on the Spot (LP版)

Mutilated Lips (LP版)

The Blarney Stone (Explicit)

It's Gonna Be (Alright) (LP Version)

The Golden Eel (LP版)

Cold Blows the Wind (LP版)

Pink Eye (On My Leg)

Waving My Dick in the Wind (LP版)

Buckingham Green (LP版)

Ocean Man (LP版)

She Wanted to Leave (With Hidden Track) (LP Version with Hidden Track)

Voodoo Lady (Demo) [Explicit]

Junkie Boy

Always A Pleasure (Live Trenton '94) (Explicit)

GodWeenSatan: Live (Explicit)

Ween has always occurred to me as a musical chameleon. You want thrashy, idiotic punk? Ween can do that. Do you want a moving, emotional ballad? Ween can do that, too. Do you want an obviously drug-fueled voyage into dissonant sound and grating, nonsensical vocals? Ween can serve that up hot with a side of grits. 

So, it shouldn't seem strange that Ween can do country, and country is what you get in 12 Golden Country Greats. Now, country is a genre of music I tend to admire from afar - I never want to get too close, lest I start feeling urges to square-dance with a ten-gallon hat and tight jeans. So having Ween do a country album gave me the excuse to get into country, even if it was largely the Ween version. But then again, a little parody never hurt anyone, and this album is a must for Ween fans and anyone who wants a little absurdity with their country. 

Ween pulls off the endeavor by bringing in a bunch of ringers (some of whom they name during songs), who obviously have the whole country thing down to a T. Although Dean Ween is by all accounts one of the most talented guitar-Gods around (or, at least, by all my accounts), he probably couldn't handle a steel guitar too well, so Ween took this concept to its logical conclusion and brought in fiddlers, steel guitarists, a drummer, etc., which give almost all the tracks a good, solid grounding in the basics of the genre. The Ween-ness is brought in courtesy of the lyrics; for a Ween album, the vocals are mostly straight and modulation-free, so it's up to the lyrical content to remind you that yes, these are the same guys behind such timeless classics as Touch My Tooter and Fat Lenny. 

The lyrics make the album, sometimes going light on the absurdity (Japanese Cowboy, Powder Blue) to laying it on thick (You Were the Fool, I'm Holding You) to just being downright hilarious (Piss Up a Rope, Help Me Scrape the Mucous Off My Brain). For Ween fans, I suspect, the lyrics are where it's at, because even after you know what Ween is going to say in a given song, it's still somehow fresh and funny the tenth time you hear it. The lyrics shine for most of the time in 12 Golden Country Greats, with comedy being the main aim, though sometimes the only joke is "hey, look, we're doing country!" 

Musically, the songs are generally catchy and well-paced. Since I don't know country very well, I can only postulate that the songs reflect a range of country styles within country itself - nowhere is this more apparent than in the cheerfully homophobic Mister Richard Smoker, which seems to be plucked out of the days of ragtime, and the almost normal I Don't Want to Leave You On the Farm, which I can only assume is closer to bluegrass. I could be wrong, but I don't really care. The only song that really drags for the casual listener not familiar with Ween's forays into the lengthy, annoying song that never seems to end (Black Jack, anyone?) is Fluffy. But Fluffy is probably the funniest piece here, and sucks you in to its world of lazy front porches and excited dogs with its slow-motion, warped approach. 

So, overall, this album is musically solid, lyrically brilliant, funny, and delightfully misnamed. Where the remaining two golden country greats went, only Ween knows, but Gene and Dean turn in a 10-song tribute/mockery of country that stands out as being both authentic and ridiculous. On a personal note, I was once dating a girl who was a true country fan. Wondering if she might like this album, I played it for her. She was horrified. But, as I said before, if you're a fan of Ween, this album cannot be missed, or left on the farm. 



12 Golden Country Greats

When Ween released their debut, God Ween Satan, in 1990, the question on most listeners' minds was "Are they serious?" Ten years later, White Pepper has folks asking "Are they joking?" No, as evidenced by the straightforward pop that makes up their eighth studio effort. This isn't a sellout, but a continuation of the sound explored on their previous release, The Mollusk. Songs like "Even If You Don't" and "Back to Basom" are respective nods to their McCartney and Lennon joneses, and even more stunningly, the brothers Ween bust out their most irony-free love song yet, "Stay Forever." The boys haven't completely abandoned the silly--the Caribbean-flavored "Bananas and Blow" and the Steely Dan-influenced "Pandy Fackler" are good for giggles--but the "more pop, less poop" rule remains in effect, leaving room for majestic tastiness like "Flutes of Chi" and "The Grobe." All in all, a fantastic salute to rock & roll.


White Pepper

https://image.joox.com/JOOXcover/0/bc1dbb3df6270381/300

The Mollusk

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The Mollusk

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