The Mollusk (1997) - Ween

To try and categorise the music of Ween is really an exercise in futility. To say their music crosses many genres is a massive understatement - it's more like they fully become a different band with every song, unless we're talking about something like their 1996 release '12 Golden Country Greats' wherein the band go full-on spit and sawdust for an entire album. This genre-bending style culminated, in the opinion of many, in 1997's 'The Mollusk' - widely considered to be their most fully realised body of work. Now, if you'd have told me that I would enjoy an album that veers from vaudeville show tunes to sea shanties to an acid jazz jam-out whose only vocals were that of a barking dog, I would've thought that idea highly scoff-worthy. Yet here we are. 

A fun fact about this album is that it was apparently the inspiration behind the creation of 'Spongebob Squarepants' and almost immediately you can see why. Indeed you could argue that this album is a concept album about life underwater and although that sounds dreadful on paper, somehow it works. You feel fully immersed in this weird and wonderful world that Ween invite you into and they manage to capture that most elusive thing that all good albums seem to have - atmosphere. A place where you can put on your headphones, lose yourself, and escape normal life for 44 minutes. 

It opens with 'I'm Dancing In The Show Tonight', which is absolutely nuts. It sounds like the intro you might hear at an old vaudeville show wherein everyone is high on absinthe, or acid, or both. It sets the tone for what's to come, meaning you are instantly aware that you are no longer listening to a "normal" band and you should prepare accordingly. However, if you expect the rest of the album to sound like this you are instantly rattled out of that thought by title track 'The Mollusk', which lyrically is one of the weirdest songs you're likely to hear but somehow pulls you into its woozy landscape and, by the time the solo kicks in, positively soars. Showing that behind all the tricks and strangeness, there is a deep musicianship to it all. 

'Polka Dot Tail' is the first of a few numbers that lean heavily on The Beatles' 'Sgt. Peppers' era and continues the nautical theme of the album. But, again, just when you think you know what you're in for, on comes 'I'll Be Your Johnny On The Spot', a punk song which slaps you out of any familiarity you might feel yourself starting to gain. Yet we move on to yet another completely different sound with the next song and album highlight 'Mutilated Lips'. "I lick my brain in silence" go the opening lyrics to this acid-rock classic. Everything about this song shouldn't work. Even the chorus shouldn't fit - "Mutilated lips give a kiss on the wrist of the worm-like tips of tentacles extending through my mind, I'm fine accepting only fresh brine" - but it somehow does, drawing you in to its laid-back drugged out vibe. 

Next up is probably the most difficult song on the album. This is what I mean when I say we're not just bending genres here, we are hearing a different band with each song. 'The Blarney Stone' is a full-on Sea Shanty. Not done in an ironic way. It is a full-blown, sitting around the fireplace after a long day at sea, soaked in pints of Cornish ale, number. At this point you're only six tracks in and you really have to admire the commitment, not to mention the balls, to attempt music of this kind. It's a fine song, you just really have to be into sea shanties to enjoy it fully. 

'It's Gonna Be (Alright)' changes pace yet again and is a quite beautiful love song about a relationship gone sour. Musically and lyrically, this might be the only track that deviates somewhat from the underwater/life at sea vibe of the album, but it still fits. 'The Golden Eel' brings us straight back into the oceanic flex we've been diving into (no pun intended). It is a high-drama, almost prog-rock, number featuring a towering guitar solo and shows yet again that behind all the quirks, their skills as pure musicians are always able to shine through. 'Cold Blows The Wind' veers somewhat back towards sea-shanty territory but not quite as hard and then we get into some serious drug-rock territory with 'Pink-Eye - On My Leg' which is a completely irreverent, acid-soaked, surf-rock jam session featuring barking dogs and a male voice gargling. Yet, even despite all this insanity, it still grooves. 

We finish with 'Waving My Dick In The Wind', an uptempo pop-rock number about being drunk, high and stupid while trying to get your girl back (let's face it, we've all been there). 'Buckingham Green' feels like 'Abbey Road' era Beatles again and, similar to 'The Golden Eel' takes that epic prog-rock feel to new heights. Then comes 'Ocean Man', possibly their most popular and accessible song, even though it's still mega-weird. Coincidentally, this is the only song that actually ended up on Spongebob Squarepants, providing the music for the closing titles of the first film. And finally we have 'She Wanted To Leave', which is pure Americana and sounds like a lost Tom Petty record. It's a great way to close proceedings, even though there is a long, lingering outro of wind and an accordion-led reprise of the first track, which slowly fades into the deep ocean while we float gently back to the surface. 

After 44 minutes of being driven through this magical mystery world you feel an almost palpable sense of "what on earth was that?" when it's over and you're back to real life. Personally, I love albums that are able to do this - pull you into a world and not let you go until it's over. It is certainly weird, but it is also funny, surprisingly heartfelt and most of all earnest. You get the feeling that they aren't coming up with these songs to be cynical, or mocking in any way. It feels more like they've had these ideas and they want to pour everything into each one to make it as authentic as humanly possible before moving on to the next. Does this mean all of it is immediately palatable? No it does not. Most of it is anything but. However, in the long term, this level of commitment makes for a far more honest, therefore rewarding and interesting, piece of work. 

This is an album choc-full of creativity and is the kind of album that makes others feel lazy and inherently one-note. It's certainly not going to be to everyone's taste but to those who get it, it will likely be in their regular rotation for years to come. A strange journey into a nautical themed wonderland that really, really, shouldn't work but, somehow, despite all the madness, really, really does. If you're at all interested in expanding your musical palate, this album is well worth a try. 

★★★★☆

JB.