The ocean is a deep blue mystery. It is filled with an embarrassment of unknowable creatures: some beautiful, some terrifying and others rather absurd. The bounty of the briny depths have inspired generations of poets, writers and adventurers. The ocean even has its own faction of musical composition often referred to as the “sea shanty”. In 1997, the indispensible scalawags of the music group Ween added the nautically themed album The Mollusk to their storied oeuvre.
One of the first things a Ween fan learns is to expect the unexpected. This trite oxymoron has a practical relation to Ween’s career on almost every level imaginable. Their first LP, GodWeenSatan: The Oneness has an extremely short attention span that is reflected as manic metal rave-ups give way to soul-filled Prince impressions and British folk experiments mutate into cheesy new wave. This is nothing when compared with the wandering weirdness of their infamous second release The Pod which many people describe as largely unlistenable (though true fans hold it close to their heart). Suffice it to say, it was a huge shock when they were signed to Elektra in 1992. Even with the alternative music explosion which had a sudden stranglehold on the music industry, Ween were a bizarre band to sign to a major label.
Gene and Dean celebrated by releasing Pure Guava, a lo-fi drum machine filled collection of off-kilter pop songs drenched in weird vocal effects. It generated an unexpected minor radio hit with the song “Push ‘Th Little Daisies”. At this point, Ween hit their stride and released their most popular album Chocolate and Cheese followed immediately by a country album called 12 Golden Country Hits. With each album, Ween grew as songwriters and performers until all of their skills coalesced to create The Mollusk.
The Mollusk opens with the song “I’m Dancing in the Show Tonight”. It feels like a children’s show tune with broken vocals sheepishly expressing their nervousness in preparing to take the stage. It is a really demented way to open an album and it immediately puts the listener in a state of confusion. When the song ends and the prog-influenced melody of “The Mollusk” begins, the listener knows that he or she is in for an unpredictable listen.
Nearly every song on the album showcases ocean imagery. In the tradition of past Ween albums, the genre templates change frequently but on this album the changes are not as jarring. The tone stays fairly consistent and genres change to serve the purpose of the song rather than to alleviate the musician’s boredom. This is the album where Ween really showed maturity and restraint. Songs such as “Cold Blows the Wind”, “It’s Gonna Be (Alright)” and “She Wanted to Leave (Reprise)” are even oddly touching in their uninterrupted bouts of semi-seriousness.
Of course, there are an equal amount of moments on The Mollusk which are completely flippant. “Mutilated Lips” is a psychedelic folk rock song with an extremely addictive and completely nonsensical chanted chorus. “The Blarney Stone” is an extremely vulgar faux-Irish shanty. It should be noted that despite their musical maturity, vulgarity still amuses Ween and this album does house some explicit lyrics and song titles which I will not post here.
One of the primary factors in determining an album’s greatness is evident in how well it ages. How does it hold up to repeated listens? In observance of this standard, The Mollusk is a great album. After the silliness wears off, the musicality of the songs remains engaging, inventive and fun to listen to. As of 2010, Ween has released nine LPs and various live albums and compilations, if you are not familiar with their work and are interested in seeing the ‘Brown’ side of the world, The Mollusk is a great place to start.
