Song of the Day 9/5: Ween, “Ocean Man”
One reason rock is fading away: Gen X bands just don’t have the staying power of, say, the Rolling Stones. For example Ween, the oddball alternative duo from New Hope, Pa., just disappointed its small but dedicated fan base by cancelling a short tour, including a sold-out show at the Mann Music Center, celebrating the 30th anniversary of their 1994 “Chocolate and Cheese” album. The official cause: Dean Ween’s mental health wasn’t up to the rigors of the road.
Ween officially started in the early ’80s, but Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo, who dubbed themselves Gene and Dean Ween, had been partners in hijinks since meeting in a junior high typing class. Their long friendship and liberal drug consumption led to a lot of absurd humor that reminded some critics of Frank Zappa. A more accurate doppelganger might be They Might Be Giants, another duo that injected offbeat humor into a vast array of musical styles and had a brief burst of popularity in the ’90s before settling into cult-band status.
For the first decade of their existence Ween was just Freeman, Melchiondo and pre-recorded rhythm tracks, even in concert, but they fleshed out their sound when they landed a major label contract in the ’90s. They even had a couple of singles that made the Alternative Rock chart, but probably reached their widest audience with the 2004 “SpongeBob Squarepants Movie.” SpongeBob’s creator, Stephen Hillenburg, said the duo’s 1994 LP “The Mollusk” was one of the show’s main inspirations. He even chose this tune to play over the closing credits, which explains why it has 22 million hits on YouTube.
