and recorded 1997's nautical odyssey The Mollusk that the group reached new heights, while maintaining their playfulness and juggling of genres.
It wasn't until the band rented a beach house on the shores of Holgate, N.J. However, their immense musical eclecticism and quirkiness has sometimes led to a lack of cohesiveness, with early albums like GodWeenSatan: The Oneness and The Pod carving out their expansive niche in experimental fits that had numerous great ideas, but lacked focus.
Almost every song they have ever written belongs to a different genre, yet they have mastered them all so they can't be dismissed as a half-assed novelty act. You can't just listen to a few songs, or even an album, and think that you have a clear idea of the band. Because sometimes, sifting through the filler to get to the killer can be hard work.Trying to neatly summarize Ween is like trying to look at a magic eye picture while wearing sunglasses. Also like Chocolate and Cheese, there’s plenty to like about The Mollusk, I just think I need to make a Ween playlist that just me my verison of their best of. It’s similar, because like its predecessor, it refuses to ever find any flow or consistency in sound or quality. The Mollusk is extremely similar to Chocolate and Cheese while sounding absolutely nothing like it. There’s something about this song that makes it sound more genuine than the other fuck arounds.įull of lush orchestration and another dip into 60s sounding, late Beatles era grandiosity, Buckingham Green is one of the most ambitious Ween songs I’ve heard, and that ambition pays off. The break neck tempo, the tight harmonies, the silly character whose story it tells. But what makes it work is that despite its silliness, you can hear Ween fully committing to making it as great as it could ever possibly be. Waving My Dick in the Wind is a fun little country number that’s as silly as its name would suggest. If these songs are intended to be legitimately good, than I refuse to believe that they’re written and recorded by the same band who wrote and recorded great stuff like the gently heartbreaking Cold Blows the Wind. If these songs are a joke, they’re not funny. For every well crafted, original but accessible song like It’s Gonna Bee Alright, you have to sit through some real clunkers, like Blarney Stone and The Golden Eel. It turns out that listening to a Ween album really is a crap shoot. So hearing it here in The Mollusk, and hearing it straight after Johnny on the Spot, it’s great combo that immediately puts this album a couple of rungs higher than it was just two songs ago. I’d not only forgotten it was a pretty great song, I’d forgotten it even existed. Oh yeah, Ween have that song Mutilated Lips. It’s part punk rock, part 8-bit pop, part spoken word, all awesome. But, in true Ween style, they have to keep me oscillating between frustrated and blown away, by throwing in I’ll Be Your Johnny on the Spot. Then it’s straight back into another cooky cock around with the sea shanty on meth sound of Polka Dot Tail. It’s musically gorgeous and rich in acoustic guitar, melody and even a few horns. But when it leads into the title track, I’m reminded of how great this band can be when they reign themselves in a little. It’s the kind of jokey muck around that I liked least on Chocolate and Cheese. Silly tubas, jaunty piano and effected vocals, things start on shaky ground with I’m Dancing in the Show Tonight. So I’m back on the Ween bus with their follow up to Chocolate and Cheese, 1997’s The Mollusk. And it’s that respect that made me feel like Ween isn’t a band you can form an opinion on based on one album.
0 kommentar(er)
