It’s a great day in the Ween-iverse. On Friday, August 2nd, Ween shared a 30th-anniversary reissue of its classic fourth album, Chocolate and Cheese. Beyond a simple remastering and fancy vinyl package, Brothers in Brown Aaron “Gene Ween” Freeman and Mickey “Dean Ween” Melchiondo reached back into their coveted vaults to include an entire second disc of 15 demos—many of which have never circulated before. On top of all that, in a matter of hours, Ween will take the stage in Montana for the band’s first shows after canceling its spring tour so Dean could attend to his “mental and spiritual well being.” I think I must be dreaming.
In addition to the original 16 songs from Chocolate and Cheese, Ween has tacked on 15 additional tracks for a robust 31-song (or 3LP) re-release. Four of the new additions are raw early attempts at songs that made the final cut for Ween’s first album in an actual studio, one they set up in a rented office space much to the chagrin of those they shared a wall with. Those include classics “Voodoo Lady”, “Take Me Away”, “Roses Are Free”, and “Candi”.
The other eleven songs were never officially released on any of Ween’s nine studio albums or odds and ends collections Shinola, Vol. 1 or Craters of the Sac. In the weird and wonderful world of Ween, however, demos have a way of making their way online—oftentimes shared by Deaner himself. As the Grateful Dead is to a vast trove of live concert recordings, Ween is to a seemingly never-ending supply of rudimentary demos readily available online (as well as a vast trove of live concert recordings). Though Ween has not released any “new” music since 2007’s La Cucaracha, the band has instead opted to reach back into the annals and rescue these songs in a live setting—playing rarities that haven’t been seen in decades or possibly never performed at all like “Cornbread Red” and “I Fell In Love Today“.
One song from the Chocolate and Cheese reissue that falls under that category is “Dirty Money”. The band played it two nights in a row in 1994, then shelved it for 29 years before fittingly bringing it off the shelf at last year’s Las Vegas run (on Gener’s birthday, no less). Ween also shared “Dirty Money” as a standalone single on iTunes (remember that?) around the time of 2005’s Shinola, Vol. 1. Prior to that, the song—along with fellow new demos “Junkie Boy” and “Smooth Mover”—appeared on the mythical Creme de Menthe unreleased and uncirculated tape which for years Ween fans only knew of from a photo of the handwritten insert of the tracklist.
The real excitement is in the eight songs that there appears to be no record of on YouTube: “Crappy Anniversary Jimmy”, “Warm Socks”, “Stop, Look, Listen, (And Learn)”, “I Got It”, “Belgian Stew”, “Church Fire”, “Sasha”, and “I Really Miss You (And I’m All Alone)”. These songs run the chaotically wide range of Ween’s influences and underscore what a transformational time 1994 was for the band and what a pivotal album Chocolate and Cheese was.
The 8-bit instrumental “Crappy Anniversary Jimmy” opens the bonus disc and highlights some of the new toys Ween got with Elektra Records‘ money. “Warm Socks” aligns with the polished Chocolate and Cheese sound of Gene’s soulful vocals (see “Freedom of ’76”), but still with remnants of the first three albums’ pivotal DAT drum machine—the unofficial third member of Ween’s touring outfit before it was ably replaced by Claude Coleman Jr., who makes his first appearance on C&C.
“Church Fire” (not to be confused with “Feed the Fire” from the same sessions) returns to Ween’s lo-fi beginnings with a sound reminiscent of Chocolate‘s predecessor Pure Guava but with cleaner spoken word vocals, cleaner auditorially not lyrically as it describes a deadly church fire that will “make your f–ing eyes pop.” Diehard fans of 1991’s The Pod (widely considered the Brownest of Ween’s albums) will likely dig the tape-manipulated lyrical drone of “I Got It”. Then the entire disc closes with Deaner’s forlorn “I Really Miss You (And I’m All Alone)”, reminiscent of The Pod‘s “Sorry Charlie” but much cleaner—similar to how the song appears live.
While hopes of any new, original studio material from the disciples of the Boognish has grown dimmer and dimmer in the post-reunion years, the band has instead shined its light into the overlooked crevices of its vast catalog. Rather than trying to conjure the same spirit that possessed them as boys and then later as boyish men, Dean and Gene are taking themselves and their fans back to a time when the Boognish moved freely among them. With this reissue campaign, Ween has captured something that would never be found in a forced reunion record, they have given fans “new” Ween songs. Whether a 30-year-old amateur recording still counts as “new” in this polished age of studio wizardry doesn’t seem like the kind of thing to perturb the two stoner princes of the 1990s or their legions of followers across generations. And that, dear friends, might just be what Deaner was talkin’ about.
Stream the Ween Chocolate and Cheese (Deluxe Edition) reissue below or on your preferred streaming platform. Ween reclaims the stage tonight, August 2nd, for a sold-out show at KettleHouse Amphitheater in Bonner, MT to kick off a seven-show run through the Pacific Northwest. Then on September 27th, Ween will celebrate the 30th anniversary of Chocolate and Cheese live in concert at The Mann Center in Philadelphia. Find a full list of tour dates on the band’s website. Hail Boognish.
Ween — Chocolate And Cheese (Deluxe Edition)
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