[Severian]

No offense man. I really like the first Foos album. I really like "My Hero" (a lot), but their last 18 years of material just doesn't do a thing for me.

I'm glad Dave Grohl has a beard and helped get Ringo Afterthought Starr into the R&R hall of fame by calling a meeting of the rock and pop illuminati and floating the idea by Springsteen and whatnot, but I feel nothing when I hear his music post 1997/8.

[noisereductions]

I did really like white stripes too, yeah

[noisereductions]

Its all good, no offense taken. Just a fact. I hear Foos And always enjoy it. Its never groundbreaking. Just consistntly good to me.

[noisereductions]

I still think White Blood Cells is my fav.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Sonic Nurse Motherfuckerz

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by pepper_green

I shall give you rep maybe for the first time. you can never explain Ween besides being funny, but then again you miss out the aliveness you feel. it's a creepy alive state of mind. mac demarco's warping 4 track will agree.

it's so weird that people don't get Ween. it should be common like sitting by a campfire or taking a shit.

Speaking of ween what happened to our disturbed artist bot who replaced gasty?

[Mortte Jousimo]

Originally Posted by Severian

To start? Probably Chocolate & Cheese. It goes down pretty easy.

GodWeenSatan: The Oneness is a fantastic debut, and the Pod is probably their first "classic", but it's hard for me to imagine someone who's not already into Ween being into those records.

But like I said, I think the Mollusk was their greatest achievement as a band. So if you're relatively new to their sound, I would say Chocolate & Cheese and the Mollusk are the best ones to start with.

But I fully recommend digging in completely if you like what you hear.

Well, just listened Mollusk. I think I will not become huge Ween fan, but I really like it. And I am going to listen at least the Pod, because I just love lo-fi-stuff. I think Ween brothers have listened Zappa...at least they seem to have same kind of ideology "you can be funny and same time make serious music".

I am not sure do I understand correct, but are here Primus haters? I am not a big fan, but really used to listen a lot their "Tales from the Punch Bowl" and liked it! Not listen it a long time, maybe should...

About White Stripes, I have said this many times earlier, but White Stripes has always been to me poor man´s JSBX. I haven´t heard proper album from them, yes they have some really good songs.

[Mortte Jousimo]

Originally Posted by Severian

Yeah, totally sick. That's true. I picked up on the oft-referred to "scariness" of Ween long before I actually got into them. Someone told me they were basically the most disturbing, fucked up band ever, and I didn't need to be convinced. All I needed to do was look at the cover of the Pod, which despite being based on the 1975 Best of Leonard Cohen cover, with almost nothing added to it, still manages to give me the fucking chills for some reason.
.

Well, I think for example Beefheart, Zappa, Lydia Lunch & Birthday party are much more fucked up & disturbed than Ween, but maybe I should listen more Ween...

[evollove]

Originally Posted by pepper_green

being a Ween fan is a certain state of mind. otherwise they come off as dorky and disposable

Originally Posted by pepper_green

you can never explain Ween besides being funny

Yes. As far as I can tell, what separates a Ween lover and a Ween hater is whether or not the listener finds them funny. Personally I find them as funny as a wacky morning radio zoo crew.

Originally Posted by pepper_green

They Might be Giants can go drown.

The fuck?

[Severian]

Originally Posted by evollove

Yes. As far as I can tell, what separates a Ween lover and a Ween hater is whether or not the listener finds them funny. Personally I find them as funny as a wacky morning radio zoo crew.

That's not their kind of humor though. It's not whoopy coushion shit. It's not "zany" ... They're not They Might Be Giants. Their songs would never work as an opening theme to Malcolm in the Middle.

It's a much more cultish, dark humor. It's rooted a bit in the literary tradition of the Grotesque, in my opinion. Mervyn Peak's Gormenghast trilogy and its accompanying artwork, is a cultural starting point for a lot of Ween's imagery.

Like, check out this illustration:

 

Has fuckall to do with Ween, and yet... This totally feels like Ween to me. Like, down to the smallest detail.

"The Blarney Stone" is a good example of what I'm getting at... Is it cheap laughs and fart sounds? Not at all. It's a roaring pirate pub chant sung in a reverent Irish accent... Is that inherently funny? Is it "comedy"? No. But there's something about the song that makes me dumb ass smile.

And if you love Ween these lyrics might inspire you to sing along in your loudest, crudest voice. It's not really that it's funny, it's more that it's awesome in the way things are awesome to a child.

Get off my ass you wee bitty fuck
if I pull out the claymore you're shit outta luck
who's that girl, that pretty young thing
after I fuck her she'll get up and sing

Aye Aye Aye
sharpen your boot, and bludgeon your eye
Aye Aye Aye
the Blarney Stone brings a tear to me eye

down to the pub for a two shilling ale
the bread on the counter is going stale
if I don't get some fresh bread soon
gonna punch you in your face and bark at the moon

Aye Aye Aye
sharpen your boot, and bludgeon your eye
Aye Aye Aye
the Blarney Stone brings a tear to me eye

Aint got no girl 'cuz I haven't the time
got too many other things on me mind
Patty was nice she was pale and cute
but I threw her away like an old piece of fruit

Aye Aye Aye
sharpen your boot, and bludgeon your eye
Aye Aye Aye
the Blarney Stone brings a tear to me eye

got ooze in my pores my feet are all wet
got mold in my ears but I ain't dead yet
got stones in me bladder got a crack in me head
when Patty starts cryin' this is what I said

Aye Aye Aye
sharpen your boot, and bludgeon your eye
Aye Aye Aye
the Blarney Stone brings a tear to me eye

That shit is just weird. Not deliberate and hokey like tag team radio "Weenie and the Butt" clichés.

[Severian]

But all this "funny or not funny" crap really neglects the main point of what I was trying to say earlier: Ween's music is almost objectively good. Every genre they play with, they nail it, and then bend it and twist it all to hell. I don't put on Ween when I want to laugh. I don't listen to comedy records, and I loathe gimmicky comedy bands. I listen to Ween when my brain can handle the overload of expertly crafted, schizophrenic music that is written with all the texture and care of a Lennon/Mccartney joint, no matter how ugly it may get, or how odd it might sound.

Bottom line: they're not a goddamn joke band. No more than Sebadoh (who I once saw them open for), or the Flaming Lips, or blah blah. Nobody likes joke bands. I think people would have an easier time with Ween if they stopped focusing on that massive misconception.

[evollove]

I appriciate the effort but:

1- Seems simply juvinile, dark streak or no

2- I really hate that guy. His name was Pete. For a second I considered putting on Choc and Cheese. But then I saw his face in my mind. Couldn't do it.

3- You really don't get how someone could not like them? Off all the bands to use the word "objectively" about, you're going to pick this one? Heck, not everyone likes the Beatles.

----

Meanwhile, listening to the new PIL. I guess PIL wouldn't be PIL if they didn't disappoint now and then. This isn't as good as THIS IS PIL, which I still love for the most part.

[Rob Instigator]

I like joke bands, IF THEY ARE FUNNY!

There are 3 LP's of Dead Milkmen that I love right up there with anything.

TMBG I love too, and are NOT a joke band. They were more DIY and "punk" than most, and have paid their dues for DECADES. Ween is not a joke band either, I just do not find their music interesting.

[Rob Instigator]

Originally Posted by Severian

. Mervyn Peak's Gormenghast trilogy and its accompanying artwork, is a cultural starting point for a lot of Ween's imagery.

.

I got the Gormenghast Trilogy lined up to review for my blog.

[The Soup Nazi]

 

[evollove]

^ Saw him live shortly after this was released. Yes, you may envy me.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

I got the Gormenghast Trilogy lined up to review for my blog.

Ah, good good!

What's your blog then?

[Severian]

Originally Posted by evollove

I appriciate the effort but:

1- Seems simply juvinile, dark streak or no

2- I really hate that guy. His name was Pete. For a second I considered putting on Choc and Cheese. But then I saw his face in my mind. Couldn't do it.

3- You really don't get how someone could not like them? Off all the bands to use the word "objectively" about, you're going to pick this one? Heck, not everyone likes the Beatles.

----

Meanwhile, listening to the new PIL. I guess PIL wouldn't be PIL if they didn't disappoint now and then. This isn't as good as THIS IS PIL, which I still love for the most part.

I get how people could not like them, and the objectivity comment was really directed at their musical ability. They're excellent musicians.

But if you don't like them you don't like them. At least it seems like you've given them a fair shot, and that's the most anyone can really ask for

[Mortte Jousimo]

Originally Posted by Severian

But all this "funny or not funny" crap really neglects the main point of what I was trying to say earlier: Ween's music is almost objectively good. Every genre they play with, they nail it, and then bend it and twist it all to hell. I don't put on Ween when I want to laugh. I don't listen to comedy records, and I loathe gimmicky comedy bands. I listen to Ween when my brain can handle the overload of expertly crafted, schizophrenic music that is written with all the texture and care of a Lennon/Mccartney joint, no matter how ugly it may get, or how odd it might sound.

Bottom line: they're not a goddamn joke band. No more than Sebadoh (who I once saw them open for), or the Flaming Lips, or blah blah. Nobody likes joke bands. I think people would have an easier time with Ween if they stopped focusing on that massive misconception.

As you know, I am the one who pay attention only in music. Lyrics can be "hamtydamty" but if the music is great I just love it! After listening Mollusk & Pod I don´t think Ween have added nothing into it what Mothers Of Invention did in the sixties (I really hate those cheap synth drum machine sounds in the pod, they really should have put for example distortion between that ugly synth & recording machine, I am glad it didn´t prevent me to enjoy that album wholly). I think Ween is much more softer, some kind of pop version of the mothers that era. I am anyway glad I have listened it and maybe sometime in the future will listen it more when there is moment I haven´t got any other interesting album I haven´t listen yet (It might took long).

If I had heard Ween in the nineties, my opinion could of course be different. On the other hand I think it might not, because I think I am the only one here who thinks SY hasn´t made anything really special and new, but I anyway love it and it´s my favourite band.

[Rob Instigator]

Originally Posted by Severian

Ah, good good!

What's your blog then?

RXTT's Intellectual Journey http://rxttbooks.blogspot.com/ I review the books I read