"I don't know why Elektra is interested in putting out any of our records," Ween singer Gene Ween -- aka Aaron Freeman -- told me last year, only half-joking.

Indeed, if it weren't for the fact that Ween's cult fanbase helps them turn a fair dollar, the twisted duo would have scared off their record label long ago. With White Pepper, you can almost imagine the stunned reaction Ween must have prompted as they delivered what is, for all intents and purposes, a remarkably accessible record.

As on previous, food-inspired favourites Pure Guava and Chocolate And Cheese, Dean and Gene Ween are still pinballing between genres like speedfreaks with attention-deficit disorders. But this time they manage to stay focussed for at least a few minutes at a time, wrapping up their takes on Space Oddity David Bowie (Back To Basom), Steely Dan (Pandy Fackler), Nashville Pussy (Stroker Ace) and Jimmy Buffett (Bananas And Blow) into tidy packages which, as goofy they get, are brilliantly executed.

Still, White Pepper's finest moments come on Exactly Where I'm At and Flutes Of Chi, swelling bits of avant-pop that presumably catch Ween playing it straight.

Ween play the Warehouse Monday night.

Track Listing 01.Exactly Where I'm At
  02.Flutes Of Chi
  03.Even If You Don't
  04.Bananas And Blow
  05.Stroker Ace
  06.Ice Castles
  07.Back To Basom
  08.The Grobe
  09.Pandy Fackler
  10.Stay Forever
  11.Falling Out
  12.She's Your Baby