Ween
Biography
Ween was the ultimate cosmic goof of the alternative rock era, a prodigiously talented and deliriously odd duo whose work traveled far beyond the constraints of parody and novelty into the heart of surrealist ecstasy. Despite a mastery for seemingly every mutation of the musical spectrum, the group refused to play it straight; in essence, Ween was bratty deconstructionists, kicking dirt on the pop world around them with demented glee. Along with the occasional frat-boy lapses into misogyny, racism, and homophobia, the band's razor-sharp satire cut to the inherently silly heart of rock & roll with hilariously acute savagery; fueled by psilocybin mushrooms and an all-consuming craving for hot meals, Ween created their own self-contained universe, a parallel dimension where the only sacred cow was their own demon god, the Boognish.
The duo formed in suburban New Hope, PA, in 1984, when 14-year-olds Mickey Melchiondo and Aaron Freeman adopted their respective fraternal aliases, Dean and Gene Ween, and cut the first of literally thousands of home recordings. At about the same time Freeman -- working under the name Synthetic Socks -- issued an eponymous 1987 solo cassette on the fledgling TeenBeat label, Ween released their own debut tape, The Crucial Squeegie Lip, on their own Bird O' Pray imprint. After a pair of 1988 self-releases, titled Axis: Bold as Boognish and The Live Brain Wedgie/WAD LP, Ween signed to the Minneapolis-based independent label Twin/Tone, which in 1990 issued the double album GodWeenSatan: The Oneness, a sprawling, often brilliant release which careened from the headlong hardcore rush of the opening "You F**ked Up" to the helium pop of "Don't Laugh I Love You" to the Prince-Xeroxed funk of "L.M.L.Y.P."
A move to the Shimmy Disc label followed prior to the release of 1991's The Pod, another masterpiece of dementia recorded on four-track under the influence of inhaled Scotchgard; darker and more deranged than its predecessor, The Pod expanded the Ween palette to include Beatlesque pop (the sublime "Pork Roll Egg and Cheese"), oddball folk ("Oh My Dear [Falling in Love]"), and mystic hard rock ("Captain Fantasy"). Against all odds, the record won the Weens a deal with major label Elektra; against even greater odds, the leap to the big leagues did nothing to alter the duo's mindset. 1992's Pure Guava, their Elektra debut, was their most consistently weird and wonderful outing to date. Highlighted by the disturbingly infectious single "Push th' Little Daisies" (a Top Ten hit in Australia), Pure Guava found the group as snarky as ever on self-explanatory workouts like "Reggaejunkiejew," "Hey Fat Boy (A**hole)," and "Flies on My Dick"; "Springtheme" mocked love songs at their queasiest; while the climactic "Don't Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy)" distilled the overblown excesses of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and Queensrÿche's "Silent Lucidity" into an epic art rock portrait of child molestation.
Dedicated to the late comedic actor John Candy, 1994's Chocolate and Cheese -- its title a perfect summation of the duo's blend of R&B and schlock -- upped the ante yet again. Widening the net to ensnare cowboy songs ("Drifter in the Dark"), Philly soul ("Freedom of '76"), Afro-Caribbean funk ("Voodoo Lady"), and Sergio Leone-inspired spaghetti Western epics ("Buenas Tardes Amigo"), Chocolate and Cheese also featured "Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down)" and "Mister Would You Please Help My Pony," two of the creepiest tales of childhood trauma ever committed to vinyl. Having taken their anything-goes aesthetic to its logical extreme, Ween took a sharp left turn for 1996's 12 Golden Country Greats, a ten-track concept album recorded in Nashville with Music City session luminaries including the Jordanaires, Bobby Ogdin, Russ Hicks, Hargus "Pig" Robbins, and Charlie McCoy. While the song titles alone -- among them "Japanese Cowboy," "Mister Richard Smoker," and "Help Me Scrape the Mucus Off My Brain" -- served notice that the group's lyrical attitude had not altered one whit, the music was remarkably evocative of Nashville's golden era, and performed with skill and affection.
A tour with Ogdin and a backing unit dubbed the S**t Creek Boys (which included steel guitarist Stuart Basore, guitarist Danny Parks, fiddler Hank Singer, and bassist Matt Kohut) followed prior to the release of 1997's The Mollusk, a concise, mock-progressive semi-concept album that proved to be one of Ween's strongest efforts. The follow-up was a double-disc concert compilation, Paintin' the Town Brown: Ween Live '90-'98, issued in 1999. In the spring of 2000, the duo resurfaced with White Pepper, their first new studio effort in three years; it peaked at 121 on the Billboard charts, their highest placing to date.
In 2001, Ween began releasing a series of live albums through their Internet-based independent label, Chocodog. The first of these, Live in Toronto Canada, captured a show with the S**t Creek Boys. Around this time, the band and Elektra parted ways, and Ween was without a record label as they worked on their eighth studio album. After a wait of two years -- during which time they released another live album, the triple-disc Live at Stubb's -- they signed with Sanctuary Records in 2003, releasing Quebec in August of that year. It was the first Ween album to crack the Top 100, peaking at 81. A few months after the release of Quebec, another independent live album followed (Live by Request), and then in the spring of 2004 they released Live in Chicago, a combination DVD/CD set, on Sanctuary, heading back into the studio to work on their ninth studio album. The resulting Cucaracha arrived in October 2007 and was prefaced by the Friends EP earlier in the year. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
Selected Discography

La Cucaracha
2007

Shinola, Vol. 1
2005

Live In Chicago
2004

Quebec (Explicit)
2003

God Ween Satan: The Oneness
2001

White Pepper
2000

The Mollusk
1997

12 Golden Country Greats (Explicit)
1996

Chocolate And Cheese
1994

Pure Guava (Explicit)
1992
ween rock the f**king house at red rock with the meat puppets this weekend the best show i've ever seen
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Ween put on one of the most consistently awesome live performances I've ever seen. I've seen them live more than any other band, and they always keep me coming back...
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scotch-gard bongs! awwe yeah. (...i think it was like an inhalation helmet or something... ) killer band!
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How can you not like Ween? Even if you don't you have at least recognize how talented they are. Wow, Sinatra, the Eagles and Starbucks. Yeah you really got a good thing going.
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Longfade you listen to a bunch of faggotry. The Starbucks channel? Really?
Dips**t. |
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If you don't like Ween you don't have to listen to them & can just piss off. The friend who got me into Ween calls me Angeline Ween. Yes, they sound great under the influence. Hey, who remembers scotch-guard bongs?
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my license plate reads: BOOGNSH
and I will have a few of those cute little guys from the Transdermal Celebration video tattooed on my body in dancing madness around a tree in the near future. Long live Ween! |
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I've got a pretty good Pandora station going, and then this kind of shite pops up and it is really obvious how truly vapid it is. These guys are a couple of clowns.
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I think this band would sound better if I was still doing drugs...
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Saw em live at the powerstation in New Zealand last year. Ween rocked the house.
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They are truly one of the best, most unique bands of recent times! Damn. WEEN RULEZ!!!
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P5 you out there? gotta thank you for giving me Ween, what? 15years ago? thanks man....Jay
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Love this band. If you only knew how much crap I have gotten for being a fan. I have a very eclectic taste in music and growing up on a farm in Nebraska I just a well have been from another planet.
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Been a fan for so frickin' long, Live is love, and its safe to say that I would touch these guys in the bathing suit area. Long live dean, gene, and mean ween, and of course the ever corageous Lord Boognish
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There are no similar artists to ween. Ween stands alone on up on the hill down by river. Each album has a different flavor. Ween is the definition of unique. While the Flaming Lips, Beck, and Pixies are quite a bit more mainstream pop and rolling stone magazine type alternative rock. Praise Boognish.
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What's with all this "ween was" "ween was" "ween was" in the description? That's all nonsense. Ween IS.
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