Chocolate and Cheese
5:55 PM
“Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down)”
FUCKING VIKING HELMET YES YES YES!
Fuck, it’s amazing what studio recording can do for a band. This sounds exactly like what any of the previous three records would have sounded like if they were recorded by a proper individual. Yet all that weird fucking shit is smeared all over this. LIKE THIS SONG. Good God, it’s weird. Chocolate and Cheese was the only Ween record I’d ever listened to all the way through at the start of this project, and that was years ago. Coming at it with a new appreciation I can already see the masterpiece status in the recording, the writing, etc and I’m only two songs in. Granted, I’ve spent some pretty consistent time with “Baby Bitch” over the years (which is probably why I was willing to listen to every Ween album ever, because that song is fucking great). But yeah, I don’t feel like I’m drowning anymore. I’m getting all the brown weirdness and Weenness and it sounds great and it’s sharp and funny and skilled. Good show.
“I Can’t Put My Finger On It”
Totally remember seeing this as a child, thinking this song was fucking weird and awful. Although I was wrong, they didn't rag on this track. Beavis liked it! Well, before Butthead reprimanded him.
OH FUCK THIS SONG. I remember seeing this on Beavis & Butthead when I was a kid and I distinctly remember them tearing it apart. Now I think that is really funny and probably some inspired Matt Judge move of having these two idiots talk shit on the one band in the world they should probably love. Genius. This song is weird and makes me feel dirty. Mostly just Gener’s vocals good god, something rapist-sounding about those. Something that makes my guts churn in the best way.
“Roses Are Free”
I skipped ahead a couple days ago when The Pod was getting particularly unbearable and I was like “Well fuck this song this is annoying” and now it’s playing and I’m like “Oh shit, this song’s the jam!” What happened? I don’t know, must be in the context of the record. I’m aware this is a hit, that’s why I listened to it in the first place. It’s a great little song though. Has all the things that made “Push th’ Little Daisies” a success, I suppose. It’s Ween playing it SORT of straight but still being total weird fuckers. This is a WEIRD sounding song. This sounds only like Ween, which I think is why this album is considered the masterpiece (I’m sure that’s arguable, but this is pry the one everyone starts with or something). Here instead of fucking around with genres and effects Ween sounds fucking on. Their spirit or whatever shines through and sure they still fuck around with genres (“Freedom of ’76, some more probably) but there’s this distinct Ween-quality that is on every song here that maybe the previous three albums didn’t have. Sure certain songs hit the mark but all of them do on this one. Oh, and this kind of sounds like a Prince song when Gene sings about throwing the pumpkin at the tree.
“Baby Bitch”
I can't even remember the first time I heard this or why I heard it. I want to know, because I feel like I've known this song forever. Still sounds like the best song in their catalog. A real classic-sounding jam.
Fuck. Goddamnit. This is the greatest song ever. Well, not really, but it’s probably up there. Listening to it in context for probably the first time it hits like a fucking brick in the face, the heart, the nuts. It hits. Like everyone, this is every awful breakup I’ve ever had. Every girl who fucked me over, etc. That line “It’s just too bad you’re beautiful, I guess” affected me so much I made some really awful photoshop art with the lyrics and the girl who’d crushed my heart (granted, not really I didn’t care to much she was just a bitch and I got over it in two seconds in very atypical Ian fashion) over a sunset with some weird effects. Hilarious. This song seems uncharacteristically straightforward but I think it’s where Ween becomes a real band to be loved by millions of people. This sounds like a fucking breakout, complete with self-referential nods to the past (“Wrote ‘Birthday Boy’ for you babe), totally disgusting vulgarity (“fuck you you stinkin’ ass ho”), and those wavery vocal effects but not enough to totally bury the perfectly righteous jam.
10:54 PM
“Drifter in the Dark”
Song feels like it should be way fucking weirder amirite?
Is this a precursor to 12 Golden Country Greats? Because it might as well be because it’s a great little country ditty, despite the fact that they’re tongue is firmly planted in their collective cheek. The weirdest thing about this song is that it’s not fucking weird at all. It’s just too fucking normal. TOO NORMAL BUT STILL FUCKING GOOD OK.
“Voodoo Lady”
Goddamn this is a catchy motherfucker ain't it?! A right tasty jam.
FUCK. “Voodoo Lady” was released as a 7” single on Flying Nun Records? It’s like my worlds are all fucking colliding! HOW FUCKING COOL! This is a fucking righteous jammy jam though. Again, I can see why this record is the classic. This is all the elements that Ween was capable of coming to a head and spilling over the glass, onto the table, and onto the floor causing some poor sap to slip and break his neck. It’s that kind of good. Ween are understanding how to transmit their idea of fun into songs that are also fun for the audience. This is a groovy track. It’s a fun song and an enjoyable song to listen to. All without Ween having to sacrifice any of their inherent brownness.
“What Deaner Was Talking About”
God these guys are funny looking. Also, God this song is so goddamn good.
And then there’s this gem. A fucking true gem. A real fucking goddamn late-album gem the likes of which you don’t really see much. A perfect melody, a great little song. This is why I love Ween. They are capable of this. They so precisely know what they are doing at all times that it’s OK to accept the fucking batshit stuff because you know every album is gonna at least have four or five songs that are just brain-melting pop tunes.
“Don’t Shit Where You Eat”
Another sneaky little brainworm. Unsuspecting and shit.
Man, the latter half of this album just kills it doesn’t it? And the first half of the album is pretty sensational too. It’s like all this investment and then the reward on the initial promise (the three or so songs on GodWeenSatan: The Oneness that were impossibly good for a couple of twenty year old stoners).
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