The Mollusk

By the Seashore
by: michael casano

Sordid tales, sea chanties, songs of love lost and pirate lust all wrapped around an aquatic theme: this is Ween's The Mollusk. The salty excursion through the ocean spray and foggy nights of Gene and Dean Ween's imagination is best taken with a sense of humor. After all, this album is a parody of that often tiresome musical genre known as Progressive Rock.

Picture the visionary weirdness of the Mothers of Invention mixed with the pre-lysergic Beatles. The lyrics and musicianship is high quality, despite the obvious desire on the band's part to deconstruct the traditional aspects of composition. This is not total anarchy, but more of a controlled chaos. Out of this chaos comes a strange order indeed.

Some songs of note: I'm Dancing In The Show Tonight - This could very well be a chorus of crustaceans singing in an underwater musical; The Blarney Stone - A crude sea chanty, "the Blarney Stone brings a tear to me eye;" It's Gonna Be (Alright) - A beautiful love song; Buckingham Green - Is it the Beatles? Not.

This is real beach music. Rather than the sounds of surfing and fast cars, this is more for that level of intoxication often necessary for the onset of heat stroke. Listen to this album more than once. It deserves that kind of attention. 26-Mar-2002 2:00 PM