ALBUM REVIEW: Ween - Pure Guava

    Going into 1992, Ween had garnered themselves a bit of solid success - they had already released two lo-fi albums with their punk-leaning debut God Ween Satan and the more experimental and incredibly brown follow-up that was The Pod, a bizarre musical experience through and through that showed the duo of Gene and Dean Ween at their most confusing musically. Still, Ween themselves had been writing and recording at prolific rates, and in spite of their oddball rock style, they managed to get noticed by and signed to a major record label in Elektra - the 90s really was the time where, no matter what the hell you were doing or how strange it was, music labels were perfectly willing to throw money at it and give it its place. The duo themselves recall being ecstatic, with Dean remembering being in awe that they were on the same label as The Doors, and they were quick to hand them the next album; Pure Guava was already completed when they were signed, and the album allegedly cost less than two dollars to make, with the duo taping over old tapes during the recording process. In many ways, Pure Guava is the ideal way to follow up the zoned-out feel of The Pod, replacing the stoned feeling with a certain eccentric quality in some of the songs, and equally as low fidelity as its predecessor, and it results in a pretty interesting companion-piece to its predecessor, whether that was by intention or not. In some ways, Ween's third record is probably their most eccentric release, complete with some of their strongest tunes yet, even if the end result proves to be quite a bit more inconsistent then the two previous albums.

    Musically speaking, Pure Guava does share quite a bit in common with its predecessor, particularly in its low fidelity and bizarre production style, although the difference here is there's a more decisively wacky feel compared to the more stoned, sludge-y feel of The Pod. It's not immediately obvious, though, given that the album opens with two back-to-back slower moments with "Little Birdy" and "Tender Situation", two moments that sound more in line with The Pod than the rest of the album, even if they immediately showcase the album's equal disregard for the conventions of studio polish. It's only really once you get to "The Stallion Pt. 3" where you really hear the differences in the album's sound; it's more quirky, more bright in its sound, even in spite of Gene and Dean's uncompromising weirdness and comedic style. Sometimes, this uncompromising vision does work a bit against the album, particularly in the album's second half - after the somewhat catchy and entertaining "Springtheme", the record becomes much more spotty in quality and entertainment. The first half had endearingly funny moments like "The Goin' Gets Tough From the Getgo" or the fast-paced "Pumpin' 4 the Man"; what do we get on the second half? The throwaway "Flies on My Dick" and "Touch My Tooter", too boring to be fun to listen to, and too stupid to be entertaining in any sense. While "Mourning Glory" and "I Saw Gener Crying in His Sleep" are fine enough, it's really not until the penultimate track "Don't Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy)" where the Ween duo really get back on track with a pretty solid little art rock track, playing like a solid Queen parody. It's this inconsistency, and sometimes the album being a bit too stupid for its own good (even by Ween standards) that certainly puts it as less of a great experience in comparison to its predecessor, and a very similar problem that God Ween Satan suffered, although frankly I think it almost worked to the benefit of the off-the-wall energy that most of that album had.

    With that out the way, there is plenty of admirable things about Pure Guava, primarily the fact that some of the songs on this release are amongst the group's best released songs yet. While the first two tracks are fine, the album really gets in motion with previously mentioned "The Stallion Pt. 3", which is a more than solid psyche track with its flanged instrumental and pitched-up vocals from Gene, very different from either Stallion part on The Pod. Immediately after is the lovable off-kilter "Big Jilm", with its title refrain and silly vocals throughout, certainly making for one of the album's most catchy moments. Speaking of catchy moments, "Push th' Little Daisies" is notable for being a minor hit from the group, albeit the term "hit" is a bit relative with Ween - MTV managed to get this one a bit of exposure, and considering how strange the songs sounds, I don't think it's a surprise that this song a bit of success, and frankly the verses have a great melody them. "The Goin' Gets Tough From the Getgo" takes the reins as my favorite moment on the album with its peculiar drum beat while also being easily the most entertaining thing on the album comedy-wise - Dean and Gene's performance together really sells this one as they laugh and joke with each other on the song. It's a fantastic moment, and the following moment "Reggaejunkiejew" has a similarly off-kilter drumbeat and instrumental; I found myself enjoying this track a bit, even if it's not nearly as funny as the previous track. While both "I Play It Off Legit" and the fast-paced "Pumpin' 4 the Man" are solid moments, especially the former with his mellow style that really would feel at home on The Pod, the following "Sarah" is a surprisingly subdued but still bizarre love song by Gene, standing as a sign of some growth for the comedy rock duo. Some other moments here and there, like the noisy "Mourning Glory" or the decently funny "Springtheme" spot the album, but it's when we get to the penultimate track, the aforementioned "Don't Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy)", where he hit the same highs of earlier - I'd say it's a great album closer, but then "Poop Ship Destroyer" follows, a song that is not exactly a stellar finish.

    Pure Guava is very much the end of an era in some sense - Gene and Ween recorded this whole album before their major label sign, and it was their last album in their initial lo-fi sound. What would follow on their fourth album was a much more polished and refined side of Ween. As you'll see with their next albums, this wasn't necessarily a bad thing, as it allowed Ween's ideas to probably blossom more freely in a way that the restrictions of their 4-track method just couldn't exactly do, but the difference is still there. Pure Guava is a fantastic encapsulation of this era of the group, even if it isn't as consistently fun as The Pod or as galvanizing as their debut. Good or bad or brown, what's on this record is exactly what Ween at this time stood for through and through, and it serves as a nice cap on the early days of their career. It's a solid album in its own right, but what would follow next for Ween would very much blow much of what they'd done prior clean out of the water.

RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

Listen to Pure Guava.