Tag Archives: ween

#1009: Ween – Pandy Fackler

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Ween’s White Pepper, released in 2000, is a bit of an odd one in the band’s discography, in that it’s the least odd-sounding out of all the albums Ween laid out on tape. Really, it’s the most streamlined, glossed-out, bordering on stadium-rock record, with hooks abound and a huge accessibility. What brought about that change in direction for that particular time is anyone’s guess. Mine is that there are a few reasons. Firstly being that it was the first where the band truly performed as the five-piece that had been on the road for years at that point. Gene Ween had had his first child a couple years prior and may have been understandably happy as a result during the times of recording. And as he and Dean Ween were approaching 30, maybe they really wanted to make that classic rock record for the masses. Just a few takes on my part, though.

‘Pandy Fackler’ is the ninth track on the album. Not a massive favourite among the general public. It’s got the last second-last amount of listens on Spotify, after instrumental ‘Ice Castles‘, and I’m sure I saw a video where Gener pretty much left the stage so keyboardist Glenn McClelland could carry out an extended solo during the instrumental break. So I think there’s a bit of a ‘toilet/bathroom break’ status about it at live shows. But I think it’s smooth as butter. Fans will know how great it is too. The band introduced it as their ‘Steely Dan song’ in one of its first live performances. Though it does have a ‘Reelin’ in the Years‘ rhythm about it, I think it’s more a reference to the precision, tightness and execution of the band’s performance on it. Steely Dan are known for that type of stuff.

Everything you need to know in order to understand what the track’s about is in its lyrics. Pandy Fackler’s a bit of a strange girl from an ‘ideal’ middle-American family who likes to have a good time in her own way. Here, the narrator sings of their admiration for here, reminiscing on the night they got together in a moment of passion. And after that comes the lengthy keyboard solo carried out by McClelland. It’s a nice jam. Dean Ween’s guitar runs are top-notch. McClelland knows his way around the keys. Rhythm section of Claude Coleman on drums and Dave Dreiwitz on bass hold everything together. And contrary to what I thought all these years, I think it’s a rare occasion on which Deaner does the lead vocals, which is always welcome.

#964: Ween – Ocean Man

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Set up in a rented beach house on the shore of New Jersey, Gene and Dean Ween were overcome with inspiration. Their surroundings were an influence on many of the songs that would end up on The Mollusk and many others that were left on the cutting room floor. ‘Ocean Man’ provides a clear example. That song is from the point of view of a person who wants to know more about the titular character, hoping to become their friend and be taken to the strange places this character goes. It’s basically Ween’s ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’. Gene Ween had a mandolin and was always playing around with it, the chords came about, the lyrics were written quickly and everything seemed to fall into place. That’s according to Dean Ween himself in a 20th anniversary retrospective of the album. A great read, would recommend. Once finished, it was put in the penultimate slot on the record. The place that, from what I’ve gathered, is usually where artists put the songs that are good, but don’t really amount to much when it comes to album flow. Am I wrong in saying that? I feel like there’s some unspoken truth about it.

Anyway, I don’t think the duo could have imagined how much of an impact the song would have on generations to come upon its inclusion in the very last scene of the SpongeBob SquarePants Movie in 2004. SpongeBob becomes the manager of the Krusty Krab, spoilers, and as the ‘camera’ freezes while he delivers the last line of the film, the opening drum roll to ‘Ocean Man’ cuts in and the credits start to roll. Now, Ween were no strangers to SpongeBob. They had provided the song ‘Loop de Loop’ for the cartoon for an episode where SpongeBob doesn’t want to tell anyone that he doesn’t know how to tie his shoes. But as a track from the album that actually influenced the creation of that series, ‘Ocean Man’ acts as the perfect way to bring it all full circle in what was originally meant to be the cartoon’s grand finale.

It’s where I heard the track for the first time, albeit a few good years later when the film was showing on TV because I never saw it at the cinema when it initially came out. What drew me to the track immediately were the exaggerated vocals. Knowing Ween now, it’s not that much of a surprise. It’s just standard practice that they change the pitch or speed of their songs when mixing in order get those effects on their vocals. But being 13/14 or however old I was when I saw that film the first time, it was definitely odd yet strangely appealing. I downloaded that track, and for years it was the only Ween song I had in my library. Took a while, but now I have practically all their albums in there. It takes a seed to make a tree.

#883: Ween – Mutilated Lips

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Many would consider ‘Mutilated Lips’ to be a clear highlight from The Mollusk. For the longest time though, I didn’t. When I heard the album the first time in 2014, it was obvious that it was a record like no other. The tracks were strange, the cover surreal… The Mollusk is a weird package, but the music was phenomenal. For the longest time, ‘Lips’ stuck out to me as the ‘weird’ song that was made for the point of being weird. The backward reverb before each line, the alternate tuning, the high-pitched voice during the ever-going sentence that makes up the song’s chorus. It all just gave an impression to me of “Yep, this is the weird one.”

So I didn’t care for it for a few years. I had my choice cuts from the album set in stone. But then I watched the band’s 2003 Live in Chicago DVD on YouTube where they performed the song, and it sort of clicked from that. There’s a skinny, potentially strung out Gene Ween on the acoustic guitar, eyes bulging out of his skull, changing the pitch of his voice automatically whenever the song requires it… he’s just owns his performance. And here the song is performed in a different key which I think suited it much better. But those aforementioned things that put me off the track up to that point, I suddenly rated quite highly. Except that backwards echo thing, that doesn’t happen in the live take. But hearing that performance made me listen to the album version with open ears. It’s been an favourite in my music library ever since.

As arguably the strangest song on the album, you’d think it wouldn’t be the track that record labels would want the people to hear when they find out a new Ween album was arriving. Well, Elektra Records did, and selected the track to be the first single released from The Mollusk, much to Gene and Dean Ween’s confusion. I maybe would have chosen the album’s title track, but I’m not a label rep, so what would I know? Below is that Live in Chicago performance, just so you don’t have to open another tab and search for it yourself.

#866: Ween – Mountains and Buffalo

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‘Mountains and Buffalo’ is a track recorded by Ween during the making of their 2003 album Quebec. Though it wasn’t included on the eventual final tracklist, I guess because it just doesn’t reach that odd weirdness that runs throughout that record, the band saw enough potential in it that they released it as a double A-side single alongside ‘Tried and True’.

As far as the track goes, it’s a pretty solid rock band performance. Gene and Dean Ween are on the guitars pulling off some great chord progressions, Dave Dreiwitz on bass guitar pulls off some good runs, and Claude Coleman Jr. powers through with those drums. Well, I’m assuming those four guys are playing on here. There are plenty of instances on Quebec where it’s only Gene and Dean on a track and none of the band’s other members are on there. There’s definitely a band performance aura about this one though.

Although the live band performance feel would stick out had it been included on its parent album, the lyrics certainly don’t. They’re quite obscure, not very linear… more based on imagery rather than having a full-on narrative. Though inspecting them closely, I think Gene Ween’s singing about having a few drinks and having a quickie with a fine lady. The way he expresses this encounter really makes the experience sound quite spaced out and trippy. It’s all great though. Something of a deep cut in the Ween discography because that double A-side single is hard to find. Very memorable yet understated, which I always like to find in a song.

#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.