Appreciating the Magic in the Uncanny: Ween's Chocolate and Cheese

For the unprepared it can be quite jarring. But for every "jarring moment on this album, there’s an equal and opposite moment of Pop brilliance.

For a while now, I’ve held to the belief that there’s no such thing as a bad genre, just good music and bad music. It’s this idea that’s helped me overcome the initial shock that comes with listening to “difficult” genres like Screamo, and Death Metal, and obtain an appreciation for those things. A genre of music that I don’t like is hard to come by. From Grunge to Pop-Country, and Classical to Gangster-Rap, I love it all. I think this mentality is also why I’ve come to love so many “cult bands” over the years.

“Cult bands” are bands that aren’t outrightly popular but still maintain a relatively small and devoted following. The Grateful Dead, one of my favorite bands, is perhaps the classic example of this. They were one of the most successful touring acts of all time, but they had maybe one radio hit during their decades-spanning career. I love “cult bands” in perhaps the same way foodies love to develop acquired tastes for unfamiliar foods. I feel like it expands my listening palette, and at the same time, I feel I’ve gained access to an exclusive club. Bands like Phish, Neutral Milk Hotel, and the Misfits are just a few examples of great “cult bands” that I’ve had the pleasure of becoming a fan of.

But I’m not just talking about “cult bands” in general today. No, I want to take some time to talk about a specific “cult band” and their seminal 1994 classic record Chocolate and Cheese. That band is, of course, Ween.

Ween is a hard band to recommend, which is perhaps the appeal. They’re difficult to attach a genre- tag to, and their music fluctuates between complete absurdity and total genius. I can’t remember who recommended this band to me, or how long ago I fell in love with their music. I simply know it had to be sometime in High School, and my love for this band’s music has only grown.

If you’re curious to check this band out but aren’t sure where to begin, I would recommend starting with Chocolate and Cheese, an album that celebrated its 30th anniversary of release this year. If you listen to this album front to back, you will very quickly find out if this band isn’t for you. If you walk away from it confused or unsure, I would implore you to give it some time to grow on you. Some of my favorite albums ever took some time to grow on me. Chocolate and Cheese is a prime example of that.

Ween consists of duo Mickey Melchiondo and Aaron Freeman, AKA Dean and Gene Ween, who started making songs together at 14. Their early tapes and albums can best be described as “musical deconstruction”, collections of songs with varying degrees of humor, vulgarity, and complete strangeness. All of their early songs were recorded on a four-track, giving them a “home recorded” Lo-fi feel. They were signed to a major label in 1992, something that could only have ever happened in a post-“Smells Like Teen Spirit” world. Chocolate and Cheese was Ween’s second major label record, and their first to sound professional enough to be one.

Even the Hi-fi Ween albums possess a bit of a loosely goosey feel. For one, their inability to commit to a genre. This album is a journey of genres, from an Elvis pastiche to trippy Psych Pop, from Funk and Soul to Rock balladry, you never know what you’re going to get. For the unprepared it can be quite jarring. But for every "jarring moment on this album, there’s an equal and opposite moment of Pop brilliance. Take for example one of my favorite Ween songs “Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down")”. It’s a strange track, a tripped-out Pop tune introduced by squeak-pitched Gene pleading, “Am I gonna see God, mommy/ Am I gonna die?” It’s an exceptionally strange moment from a band that deals in strangeness. It’s almost as if Ween is challenging you to turn the music off, to give up. And then the rest of the song kicks in, a floaty tripped-out wash of sound. It’s nice and bouncy, and if you weren’t scared off completely, it wins you back completely.

What makes Chocolate and Cheese so great is the way it manages this constant push and pull. You can sense the music pushing you, trying to find that perfect balance between goofiness and sincerity. The result is a bizarre feeling of uncanniness. Songs like “Baby Bitch” and “Buenos Tardes Amigo”, achieve this strange dichotomy of being fully fleshed-out songs while also feeling improvised on the spot. “Mr. Would You Please Help My Pony” and “What Deaner Was Talking About” are examples of songs that on the surface sound too ridiculous to be taken seriously, yet they grab you like any great Pop song would. And they are legitimately great Pop songs!

Although I’m not sure they always achieve that perfect balance of sincerity and strangeness, I believe there is something beautiful about how they approach it. In that constant yearning for it, I believe Ween uncovers an uncanny magic.

So if you’re curious to hear a virtuosic guitar solo in honor of the passing of Eddie Hazel, a classic country song, a strange electronic circus-type beat about HIV, or a tribute to Philly delivered in a funky Prince-esque falsetto, all within the same project look no further. If that’s not something you’d ever even remotely be interested in hearing, it never was for you anyway. And that’s ok.

Thanks again for reading! I hope it inspires you to give Chocolate and Cheese the ol’ college try. I should say before I wrap this up, that the key to getting into Ween is wanting to like it. Don’t just expect this album to blow you away and prove all your preconceptions wrong. If you’re inclined to think this music probably sucks, Chocolate and Cheese will likely play into those inclinations. But if you’re willing to just sit with it, and appreciate it for all its weirdness and eccentricity, I think you’ll love it.

For want of another chance to see this band live, (we had tickets to see them in 2021 but one of the band members got Covid, and the show was canceled :( ),

Lewis