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WHITE PEPPER
Ween
(Elektra/Warner)
"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