Tag Archives: pure guava

#751: Ween – Little Birdy

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I am a massive fan of Ween. After listening to GodWeenSatan for the first time in 2015 and being amazed at the thing, I eventually went down a rabbit hole that had me watching every live performance, album, B-side, and rarity made by Gene and Dean Ween (real names – Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo). Pure Guava, their surprising major-label debut, is a favourite of many a fan of Ween. It is probably one of my least favourite out of all their records. Just seems like a sequel to The Pod. I believe both albums were recorded in the same place, possibly in the same sessions too. There’s a huge emphasis on the rhythm and low-end frequencies on Guava though – and this is made clear our of the gate when its first song ‘Little Birdy’ begins.

This track sounds high. Carrying on the lo-fi style that was established on its predecessor, everything sounds like it was recorded on some very cheap equipment. And for the most part, they were. The strung-out bass kinda pulsates as it slides from one note to the other, the drums are somewhat tinny and light to the ear, and I can’t think of a way to describe the guitar. Sounds like a slide guitar but it’s filtered in a way that makes it sound like a completely different instrument. Dean Ween, who ‘sings’ for the first half of the track, sounds totally out of it – like he just got out of bed or probably smoked a bowl two. And Chris Williams, Mean Ween to those who know, is the high-pitched vocal who ‘sings’ the rest and closes the song out. Both lose their timing during in the song, Williams corpses in the middle of one lyric….. this is basically a song that should have no right to exist. And if it did today, people would probably slay and move onto the next thing.

It’s all strangely hypnotizing though. It stuck out to me as a really good song when I first heard it. It certainly sets the tone for what’s to follow in the album. As to what it’s about, I’m not sure. Though I wouldn’t be surprised if the song is actually about a bird that one of the band members saw one day while strung out and became a source of inspiration. They can always make great songs about the littlest of things.

#580: Ween – I Saw Gener Cryin’ in His Sleep

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Not a very festive or momentous song for the coming new year, I know. But these things aren’t planned. I just do whatever song is next on my phone. And on this New Year’s Eve the track is ‘I Saw Gener Cryin’ in His Sleep’, the thirteenth track on Ween’s major-label debut Pure Guava.

For any Ween fan reading (quite unlikely) wondering where I would place Pure Guava in my favourite albums of the band, I’ll say to you that it probably isn’t in my top five of theirs. To me it just feels like The Pod Part 2, though with less songs and… a bigger sound to it maybe? There’s a larger emphasis on grooves and the drums on Guava, but The Pod in itself is just a lot more interesting and has a lot more variety – no matter how out there it is. I only have four songs from Guava on my phone and for some reason ‘I Saw Gener’, which I feel a lot of people would probably skip over after a while, popped out to me on that first album listen in 2015 or so.

I guess it’s because Ween are known for being this silly band who make a lot of silly stuff (even though their music is actually amazing and you should listen to anything of theirs as soon as you can) and this song details an instance where things aren’t as they seem. Dean Ween – real name Mickey Melchiondo, affectionately known as Deaner by Ween fans – sings about seeing bandmate Gene Ween crying in his sleep and offers some advice to help him through bad times. It’s all a bit heavy.

However, it’s shoddily recorded and set to upbeat, bouncy music which completely overshadows the downbeat lyricism. The drum machines skip out of time and some points, the drum machine cymbals thrash about wildly, there’s some piercing feedback after the first chorus. It’s a great listen. It makes it so funny, but it’s not supposed to be. It’s so conflicting. But that’s the beauty of many a Ween song.

That’s the end of 2017. Hard to believe I revived this back in August when I was stuck at home relentlessly searching for jobs online. Now I have one. I start next week. Hopefully this is the start of something special. Will see you in 2018. Many more songs to come.