Review Summary: Did you find it in the sandy ground, does it emulate the ocean sound?
Ween - The Mollusk
Ween is a group known for their musical eclecticism and quirkiness which often had people crying parody, from the inception of their career with late 80's/early 90's albums
God Ween Satan: The Oneness and
The Pod the group carved their niche crossing several genres in an experimental fit that saw no real focus and in excess of 20 short tracks per album which were all nice ideas but lacking any cohesiveness. It wasn't until 1994's
Chocolate & Cheese that critics begin to start approaching the group as a more serious force, still often regarding Ween as a joke band but meriting the album as an accessible collection of several tracks that spanned many genres including disco, britpop, funk and psychadelic rock with clever pop hooks that appeared more to deconstruct and pay homage to said genres rather then just outright copy them for s
hits and giggles. It wasn't until the band rented a beach house on the shore of Holgate, New Jersey and recorded 1997's nautical themed
The Mollusk that the group created their greatest album to date however, retaining their distinct playfulness and juggling of genres but reaching a new level of sincerity unseen from the band before.
The Mollusk is a loosely grinded together concept album, whilst every song is it's own separate work there is a distinct flavour running throughout themed around the romantic allure of the sea. Pirates, sea-shelled creatures, mythical monsters, lonely sailors, it's all here lyrically patterned with a warped tongue-in-cheek sense of humour. Whilst the topics involved go a long way to provoking imagery of a maritime persuasion the true push towards this comes from the sea-sick lurch of the music itself, a varied throwback to the progressive rock groups Ween grew up entranced by (Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Yes) filtered through their own unique songwriting ethic. What is good is that there are more then a few surprisingly poignant moments, but the greatest thing about
The Mollusk is undoubtedly simple in that it is a consistently great collection of music.
Title track
The Mollusk,
Polka Dot Tail,
The Golden Eel,
Ocean Man &
Buckingham Green are where the offbeat songwriting works best, weaving through a playful oceanic mysticism the results are an involving concoction of glorious pop hooks, with a use of instruments that recalls progressive rock but are far from pretentious unlike the influences they draw upon. It is humorous and quirky, but also sincere. Simple rhythmic guitar patterns and arpeggios fuse with curious wind instruments, trumpets, violins, and most importantly the Mellotron to create some beautifully constructed tracks in terms of layering, in terms of structure constantly retaining it's own unique swagger.
Mutilated Lips is a similar affair, however much more psychadelic and bizarre. It is an alluringly distant track, with some queer vocal effects and gorgeous instrumentation. Along with this the stranger realms of this album exist with opener
I'm Dancing in The Show Tonight, a clunky piano led cabaret track with a hebephrenic childlike innocence about the vocal line and
The Blarney Stone, undoubtedly the greatest drunken pirate chant ever recorded complete with accordion and rambunctious cheering. Whilst the uniform approach to the music that gives all these tracks a distinct "sea" quality is present in
I'll Be Your Johnny On The Spot through an excursion into dissonant synthpop, the contrasting lyrics are seemingly left over from Ween's earlier country album 12 Golden Country Greats as is those to
Waving My Dick in The Wind. Both are the two fastest and upbeat songs on the album.
In a case for the sincerity of Ween as valid artists
It's Gonna Be Alright,
Cold Blows The Wind and
She Wanted to Leave present a good argument.
It's Gonna Be Alright features songwriting Paul McCartney would be proud of, through a blue wall of soft, layered guitar tracks and ambient percussion it echoes composition that is as close to perfect as any whilst the chorus flows into the following lyrical hook (
And if the mist ever let's the sun through/I'll just hope I did the right thing for me and you). The folk reworking of traditional arrangement
Cold Blows The Wind and
She Wanted to Leave are equally on par, whilst the sea-faring theme in context of all the other songs on here still hint at a restrained sense of humour both are strongly poignant renditions.
Whilst
The Mollusk retains the eclecticism Ween is known for and features a strong sense of humour about the matter, it is a highly consistent album with a strong musical quality that negates all possible criticism Ween is a solely a one trick pony joke band. It's filtering of progressive rock influences in a non-pretentious output that is both fun and musically satisfying is a truly commendable effort, at times breathtakingly sad, downright weird, but always a curiously satisfying work. Although glanced over for the most part
The Mollusk is a true musical gem of the 90's.
