I Shit Music

Ok, let’s get back into this. First off, let’s celebrate Mr. Aaron Freeman on 11 months of sobriety. Probably the longest he’s gone since 8th grade, so mad props unto you fine sir. However, I have some serious bones to pick with you my good man. Going solo is totally fine. And I understand that you needed to get away from Ween and that being Gener was keeping you on the eternal binge train. But here’s what really apes my butt-star…

After releasing this dumb album of Rod McKuen covers, you tried to do a solo tour. Only you very quickly realized that in the mass swashes of low IQ locales you had scheduled shows, (The South), nobody there realized that Aaron Freeman is Gene Ween. Thus, you had to cancel those shows. Then you realized that at the shows you actually played, nobody gave 1/2 a shit about hearing some pussy cover tunes off an album they had no interest in listening to in the first place.  So you gradually worked more and more Ween cuts into your gigs until by the time you got out to Portland, nearly your entire set was Ween tracks. Deep tracks. You encored with “What Deaner Was Talking About”. Those are some really fucking poignant lyrics bud – “The sun comes up and I’m all washed out. Is this what Deaner was talkin’ about? I don’t think I will ever return again my friend.” And I know that shit has to hit home hard for you, let alone what Deaner friggin’ feels about his lifelong friend turning his back on him only to sing these songs that mean so much to the both of you without him.

So if you want to go solo, then go solo. Don’t play Ween tunes, just play your irrelevant cover songs. Right now you’re making yourself look no better than Axl Rose or even the dude from Asia who tours without Asia. I mean, what do you really need – a separate dressing room? You guys usually played venues that can accomodate that shit. If you don’t want to be around your boys drinking whiskey and blowing coke, then leave the fucking room. Don’t be a whiny brat about it – suck it up and get out there on the stage with them after they’ve gotten their buzz on without you. I assure you Deaner and the crew would be a lot happier with that, than with you playing all their songs with some other random cats. Sobriety’s tough – I get it, we all do. But what’s even tougher is turning your back on your boy and your legacy and your fans. I guarantee all of them are willing to support your decision to not be fucked up anymore if you’re willing to keep one of the greatest bands of all time together.

So in one month you’ll be  a full year sober. That seems like a great time to apologize, say you needed to distance yourself from it for a year, and then set some new Ween tour dates for 2013. Open up the 1st show with “Stay Forever” and I guarantee you, Deaner, and all the fans will have tears of joy pouring down their face. Stop being a bitch.

Here’s a wicked early version of “What Deaner Was Talking About”

And here’s Cooley’s latest entry into the classic Hitler clip world.

You know, bands get old. No matter how much they may maintain their abilities to kick ass, things will never be the same as those first experiences you had with them, so embrace those passing moments with as much self-referential joy as you can. I’ve been a Ween fan for a long fucking time. And while I wouldn’t necessarily say that inebriation is an essential part of their live experience (for both fans and band) I also wouldn’t say that sobriety fits in too well with the game plan (for both fans and band.) And with only a handful of shows in the past few years, highlighted by a disastrous Pacific Northwest performance a year or so ago, it seemed that perhaps Gener was headed to one of the 3Ds of rock stardom: Dead, Drugs, or Done. He was either gonna completely burn himself out til it straight-up killed him, just continue to become a fatter piece of faded shit, or walk away from the whole situation. Those were his only 3 options – call it the Garcia Exit Plan if you will.

I’ve been holding out a glimmer of confused hope since the unofficial announcement of Ween’s demise came a month back, but last week’s official one made it hit home a little more. To quote Gener, “I want to thank each and every one of you for all of your kind words and support. It means a lot. My decision to leave Ween, however interpreted, was absolutely not made in haste. It’s involved over a decade’s worth of internal and external struggle. Know that I am extremely proud of all that Ween created, and want to leave it that way. I need to now move on for myself, and for my family. Many new roads to travel, bridges to cross.”

So while it fucking blows that Ween is calling it quits, and it blows that poor Dener seemed to have found out by reading it in Rolling Stone, I’ve decided to take some pride in the fact that one of my musical heroes is hopefully going to maintain his actual physical existence on this Earth – I can’t really be pissed at the guy. Something’s gotta change. Seems like Eddie Van Halen could only rock the sober train if Michael Anthony wasn’t around – which again blows. And Trey can’t rock Phish sober unless he’s allowed to play a lot of sub-par shows whenever he wants. Gener can’t rock Ween unless…he’s just not rocking Ween. Oh well, I feel the looming paycheck will bring a tour somewhere down the line, but til then…upward and onward. The girlfriend and myself have had this track with The Kostars from 1996 on loop since the first announcement – poignant shit and Dener’s solo is a soul-crusher.

When I first heard that Aaron Freeman (aka Gene Ween) was going to release a solo album, I was giddy as a school-girl. Ween hasn’t released an actual album since La Cucaracha in 2007, although Deaner did drop The Caesar Demos last year. If you’re in a serious need of hearing Ween tunes you’ve never heard before, it’s definitely a must-have. The download links are still up at MediaFire – Here’s Disc One and here’s Disc Two. Anyway, when I first heard Aaron was putting out an album, I had visions of slow ballads that were a touch too soft for Ween but would still have his off-kilter beauty shining through. The pseudo-bummer is that the album is actually a collection of songs originally penned by Rod McKuen.

Now if you’re like me, too young to have been a complete music geek in the 70′s, then you also have no idea who Rod McKuen is. Turns out Gener didn’t  have a clue either, til producer Ben Vaughn turned him on. Well good ole’ Rod here supposedly wrote over 1500 songs in the 50s through the 80s, for everyone from Frank Sinatra to Madonna. And yeah, he’s got a little odd twist to his writing and his voice has an ironic snarl that points to a hidden amusement in even the most serious of moments, but these aren’t Ween songs. This is Aaron Freeman paying his respects to an artist that he truly appreciates and wants to turn more folks onto. So, it is what it is for what it is, but fuck, I was hoping for it to be just a little bit more. I guess it’s a good way to get your grandmother into Ween, but other than that it’s only gonna make you want to listen to The Mollusk on repeat a few more times. Give it a shot yourself. Here’s Freeman’s take on “As I Love My Own.”

And here’s some original Rod with “Marvelous Clouds.”

And if you need Ween you haven’t heard, here’s “Ambrosia Parsley” – another classic Prince on Mushrooms groove.