Tag Archives: the pod

#1294: Ween – Strap on that jammypac

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You know those times at a live show when a band comes out and, to get the crowd pumped up, the guitarists will start strumming one chord vigorously with the bass guitarist following suit with one note on a string and the drummer laying into the cymbals before signalling a count that suitably falls into the rhythm of the opening number of the night? I feel like Foo Fighters do that kind of thing a lot of the time. They just come to me as an example. Well, Ween’s ‘Strap on that jammypac’ is a song where the music is based on those specific moments, except the actual song that’s supposed to begin right after never starts. ‘…jammypac’ is the opening number to Ween’s almighty sophomore album The Pod, released in September 1991. And what better way to get this unusual album going than with a track just as unusual in nature?

The ‘jammypac’ in the song’s title refers to the apparatus donned by the figure on the album’s cover, widely known by Ween fans as ‘Mean Ween’, whose name is Chris Williams and a good friend of both Gene and Dean Ween. This was supposedly used to aid in the huffing of Scotchgard that went on during the making of the album. But of course it’s well-known now that this activity was a story made up by the two members of the band, who actually became ill with mononucleosis during the sessions. There were probably plenty of other types of hallucinogens involved, though. Dean Ween sings this tune, sounding like a Looney Tunes/Merry Melodies type of character that I can’t recall the name of, sometimes coming in a little too early or much, much later than the music backing him. Goes to show the vocal take was probably done after the music was recorded.

Overall, I guess you can say this is a song of invitation. There’s no better place to put it on the album than at the very beginning. Dean Ween wants you to put this jammypac on and promises that he and the listener will have a good time together, but sprinkled in among this is a tale of a man who doesn’t get the required amount of food he needs cooked by his woman and can’t take the situation anymore. It also marks the start of the dozens of internal references that occur throughout the album, with the mention of a ‘van Winkle’ who’s also mentioned in fellow album cuts ‘Boing’ and ‘Molly’, before getting their own dedicated song in ‘Sketches of Winkle’. Despite the track, I think, being influenced by those live rock concert situations, it wasn’t played in a live setting by Ween until they were on tour for Chocolate and Cheese a few years later. Whenever they’ve played it live in more recent times, it’s usually the show’s opening tune. It goes down very, very well with the crowd.

#1250: Ween – Sorry Charlie

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When you take on the task of listening to Ween’s The Pod, you’ll come across the first demented moment out of many on the album via its third track ‘Frank’. On it, with a sassy vocal, Gene Ween asks the titular character to supply him with a pork roll egg and cheese with some gravy fries on a couple of occasions. The sludgy guitar riff that closes it out gets louder and louder, becoming more distorted and incomprehensible before it completely cutting off abruptly and giving way to fourth track ‘Sorry Charlie’ – a much more subdued and quieter track in comparison. You might not even realize another track begins because of how low the audio levels are.

This Ween song right here is sung by Dean Ween. It’s always nice to hear a Dean Ween vocal. Gene Ween masters the ones he does with his versatility and range, that when Deaner takes over for once it’s nice to appreciate the kind of everyman, guy-at-the-bar vibe he brings to the table. A lot of Ween songs are based on real experiences lived out by the two, so I’ve always assumed ‘Sorry Charlie’ was the same. The track is Deaner’s observations of a guy named Charlie, someone he probably once knew in the past who shows up unexpectedly at his workplace one day. Deaner sings of the disappointment he feels for Charlie, who apparently has amounted to nothing since the last time he saw him. Charlie’s a man who left college but has a girlfriend in high school and sells pot to make ends meet. Dean wishes he could help him with whatever he needs, but regrettably has to decline ’cause he’s got his own shit to sort out. A very relatable situation.

A lot of the charm in The Pod comes in how its essentially an album of demos that were originally going to be properly recorded before the producer told the duo that what they had was sufficient. People might mistake it as a sign of not taking their craft seriously or trying to be funny just for the hell of it. I know I can’t help but laugh when I hear those programmed crash cymbals during ‘Sorry Charlie’, just because of how fake they sound in the context, or when Dean Ween yells out that faux-rockstar “Ow!” before busting out the plinky guitar solo. But one thing’s for sure, Gene and Dean Ween were always serious when it came to their compositions. They just weren’t all melodramatic about it. A lot of their songs are formed from an enormous fountain of sincerity. ‘Sorry Charlie’ fits neatly into that group. So take the time and dig the lo-fi production. And if you’re not into it, try out a live performance like the one below. Maybe that’ll reveal something.

#1125: Ween – Right to the ways and the rules of the world

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Maybe the best way to listen to The Pod is through the way its broken up on its vinyl releases. Split up into four sides, having the time to digest one of those at a time with some breaks in between would probably allow a new listener to at least digest the 15-20 minutes that each side of vinyl provides. I didn’t do this. When I was fully on my Ween exploration in 2015, I dove headfirst into the album on Spotify and listened to it the whole way through. All 76 minutes. That first time was a slog. I don’t know if you know, but the album is known for having extremely shitty production, even though a lot of the songs are classics. At least to us Ween fans, anyway. ‘Right to the ways and the rules of the world’ is only the seventh track on there. On that first listen, it felt like I’d been listening to the album for much longer than when the song arrived. And it also felt like it went on for a lot more than the mere five minutes it lasts for.

Now of course I’m used to it all. The track is a slow, slow one though. Coming after the little non-song of ‘Pollo Asado’ (a very popular one for Ween people), ‘Right…’ is what I believe to be a mimic of those old, melodramatic ’70s progressive rock songs by bands who would write about things like folklore or traditions of the past… myths and legends and the like. Gene and Dean Ween take on this melodramatic route, singing about nothing but a bunch of silliness – brilliant imagery though, gotta be said – all of which is crowned by the aloof harmonies that recite the song’s title phrase. “Monsters that trinkle like cats in the night/The cosmic conceiver continues his plight.” Those are just the first couple of lines.

The screeching organ that blares throughout is the melodic linchpin throughout the song, really hammering home that sort of medieval type of sound that I think the song’s going for. Something of a vocal chameleon, Gene Ween puts in another captivating performance. Increasing in intensity throughout, it culminates in the final verse where he lets out a shriek and then falls into a fit of laughter as the instrumental continues. Some people may argue that the song takes some momentum out of the album’s proceedings. Whatever “momentum” that may be, going through this album can feel like being in a state of purgatory sometimes. It’s just as essential as any other track on there, I feel. The production is so murky, you could almost choke on it. But the song at the core of it stands strong.

#1054: Ween – pork roll egg and cheese

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Ween’s second album The Pod is a notably difficult album to listen through from start to finish. The tracks all suffer from a very low-budget production quality, having all been recorded on a 4-track cassette recorder. Plus, a lot of the songs on there are quite unconventional to say the least. Ween were never ones to hold themselves in any boundaries when it came to making music, and it’s arguable that The Pod is the major exhibit of just how freaky Gene and Dean Ween could get with whatever they had at their disposal. Yet despite all this, this album’s actually really great. Sometimes it feels so wrong to like as many songs as I do on here. They have no right to be as good as they are, as murky and muddy as they all sound. To also help tie this sprawling experience together, specific lyrical themes are brought in and reintroduced during various points. One of them culminating in ‘pork roll egg and cheese’, the album’s penultimate number.

Initially mentioned in the record’s third track ‘Frank’, the ‘pork roll, egg and cheese’ combination is mentioned again in 13th track ‘Awesome sound’ (with additional bacon). It’s sort of referred to in ‘Pollo Asado’. The phrase is repeated from the beginning to end of the track ‘She fucks me’ as some sort of madness mantra. If you hadn’t by this point, you’ll definitely be wondering what this fixation with this damn sandwich is all about. And right after that last repetition of the phrase in ‘She fucks me’ ends comes the track fully dedicated to it. In comparison to the 21 songs that precede it, ‘pork roll egg and cheese’ is almost like a lullaby. It’s a really relaxing, very chilled track. I don’t think it would be wrong to say it’s actually rather cute in a way. It’a pleasant ode to the times, after having completed a hard day’s work, to just sit down, gather your thoughts and eat some good food.

Let’s say there were potential discussions of singles from this album, which there probably weren’t but just go along with me for this, I don’t think it would be wrong to put ‘pork roll egg and cheese’ as a definite contender. Sure, the subject matter’s a little out there. It may have needed to go through a rerecording/remix. But man, this song hits all the right spots even in its original form on the album. Even the little moments like the split-second clearing of the throat at the song’s start or when Gene Ween kinda cracks up during the verse before the last chorus always scratch that inner itch. Reading comments online, I’ve seen people say that this song deserved to close the album out, and it probably should have. It certainly possesses an ending-credits feel to it. Plus it’s where the ‘pork roll egg and cheese’ theme comes to a close having been introduced probably almost an hour earlier. But ‘The Stallion’ has a few last words he’d like to share before truly leaving the listeners to ponder. But really, ‘pork roll’ is one of my highlights from there and most definitely one of my favourite songs by Ween too. I’ll have to try the sandwich one day.

#854: Ween – Mononucleosis

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I saw someone describe Ween’s track ‘Mononucleosis’ as ‘basically’ (or was it “virtually”..) ‘the title track to The Pod. This is Ween’s second album, released in 1991. And when I saw that I thought, “Yeah, it kind of is, isn’t it?” The track mentions the album name in the lyrics. Plus, the infection itself is partially one of the reasons the record came out sounding the way it did. The main reason is probably that it was recorded on some very cheap equipment in a rented apartment. Yeah, The Pod is an enigma of an album. From my experience of listening to it over the years, you can’t deny the songs sound like absolute crap. But they have some great melodies, rhythms and hilarious moments that make it so entertaining to listen through. But anyway, yes, ‘Mononucleosis’, let’s get to that.

Gene and Dean Ween, the two guys and main brains behind the Ween name, both came down with mono during the making of The Pod, but on separate occasions. When Dean had it, Gene wrote this song which is pretty much him describing the whole situation and detailing his feelings upon seeing his good friend suffer from the infection. Each verse on here is underlined by a blunt expression of “Oh, dude”, which I think is sometimes all you can say when you’re feeling sympathy and sadness for someone who’s suffering in some way. I also think I read a description somewhere that said that this song sounds how having mono feels. While I can’t relate to that, I can probably understand. The track really drags, guitar notes ring out and drone with a very groggy tone, Gener sounds like he’s singing at the bottom of a well with all the reverb that accompanies his vocal. It’s a track about a very unfortunate situation, yet when I first heard it in about 2015 I couldn’t stop repeating it, I was enjoying it so much.

I believe this is the first song from The Pod that I’ve come to talk about on here. More are to come. But because I couldn’t write about it due to time and whatnot, I’ll point you in the direction of ‘Captain Fantasy’. Another personal favourite of mine. If you like what you’re hearing, kudos to you, not a lot of people would. You might as well dive in to The Pod and the 77 minutes of music it has to offer. You probably won’t be able to listen to music the same way after.