New Release Tuesday

It was almost 14 months ago to the day that I first saw Ween in concert. I won't lie: I was disgusted. Bored. Upset. Really upset that they played between Sonic Youth and The Flaming Lips and not first. Those were the longest 75 minutes of my life; probably because I was anticipating for several months and years the chance to see Wayne Coyne and his bubble, but more so because Ween was not interesting in the least. It even seemed to me that following their set, it cleared out and there were less people their to enjoy all the confetti and streamers provided by the Lips amazing set.

Sometime between then and a month or two later, I became somewhat obsessed with the duo of Gene and Dean whose hometown is not too far from mine own. The New Hope natives had me watching their videos on YouTube, tracking down their albums, and strangely enough, falling for them in the most musical way possible. From the great sense of humor in "Even If You Don't" to the amazing album that is The Mollusk to "The Stallion Pt. 3" (the only part I care for,) I finally got Ween and that made all of my friends happy.

So, they've dropped their new album this week, La Cucaracha, and of course I had to check it out. Over the course of the 13 tracks that make up the cockroach, fans of Ween will be delighted to know their sense of humor and zaniness has stayed in tact ("My Own Bare Hands,") while caving in and including horns on an album for the first time, because David Sanborn played for them ("Your Party" - what a great closer!) In my opinion, I really enjoy playing the opening jamboree "Fiesta" back to back with the 10 minute epic "Woman And Man." Whether playing them in succession or just when they come along in sequence, these two songs show the listener that Ween are still here being the same band they are: pleasing the aural senses of their humorists and getting in touch with those who love the jams. "Woman And Man" is definitely the song you'd expect to hear during and episode of CHiP's during the final chase or something like that.

Good job boys, good job.

Stream: La Cucaracha [Here] // [Buy Here]