A Reassessment of Ween's "La Cucaracha"

[Greg Torso]

In another thread on here, I dismissed Ween's (so-far) final album La Cucaracha as shit, as having only one good song and being a crushing disappointment. I felt bad about this, because I love Ween. I think most people do. Even people who hate Ween, people who mistakenly think Ween are a couple of immature stoners sniggering their way through ironic joke pastiche songs whilst doing "funny" Mexican accents, even those incredibly wrong, misguided, lost people, even they on some level, love Ween.

I think my disappointment with this album was compounded by it being the band's last proper release, especially knowing how many amazing and properly brilliant songs there are by Ween that are still unreleased, and this was their bow out? This load of boring, lustreless waaaaank???

So "La Cucaracha", ha ha the funny Mexican themes are already here to annoy, I never actually owned a copy of, I got the mp3s from a friend when it came out (2007/8 I think), listened to it three or four times and then deleted it off my hard drive, la.

A most un-brown move. But hey, I had shit to do, funfair goldfish to liberate and Chinese secretaries to write badly translated haiku to. And so here we are, 13 or so years later, in the mood to move motherfucker.

La Cucaracha, by Ween.

Fiesta. The first song, doesn't bode well. Mexican inspired trumpet swinger. It's a challenge. Strays a bit too close to ska as well, which is probably the worst kind of music you can have. I picture fat blokes in tiny hats and babies swimming goggles twanging their braces running around being very silly while it plays.

Blue Balloon. On first listen,sounds more like a band trying to sound like Ween. It's got the elements there - sluggish drum machine beats, slightly goofy voices and lyrics, a few squidgy synth squiggles - but it's lacklustrous. It's like a band trying to capture some of that pure guava juice but the brown magic just isn't there.

Friends. Before listening to this I was under the impression that the EP version was far superior, a propah Hi-NRG dance floor banger that goes full on fondue cheese melt all over your white arse, but imagine my delight when this "shitty demo sounding version" (as my mind recalled its 2007 sack of wet shit opinion) turned out to be really quite lovely. It's a very different vibe, kind of a junky keyboard busker quality, and it's clear the EP version is by far the less sincere of the two. Always found the lyrics quite touching, too. Ween gets you like that, right on the cusp of being nonsense toilet words and tender life truths.

Object. 70s rock sound slow burner that had a nice guitar sound but passed by without comment or guff in my direction. Maybe a grower not a shower.

Learning To Love. Awful. Fucking awful. Ween's country album has its good tracks but it's probably my least favourite of their's (apart from this one, Le Cockroach de Merde). This song is a perfect spot-on parody of a banjo-toolin', good ol' Memphis boot-down hoe-stomper, and it SUCKS FUCKING SHIT MATE.

My Own Bare Hands. Not really a fan of the Moistboyz and that's what this sounds like. Plodding metal. I did laugh at the lyric "she's gonna be my cock professor, studying my dick" because it's just so stupid. It's no Awesome Sound, that's for sure.

The Fruit Man. A shit reggae-influenced song with "comedy Rasta" vocals. They did this in a much funnier, much more offensive and unacceptable way on Mango Woman. It can't even be arsed to get really objectionable, and it's far too long.

Not looking great. I swear, I'm trying to be positive!

Spirit Walker. Starts off boring, with autotuned vocals that aren't wonky enough to be funny and light-as-an-exasperated-sigh keyboard which wants to soar but never does. About a minute and a bit in though, this farting out of tune keyboard comes in and Dean starts muttering about llama's milk and suddenly it gets really good and I was into it, but then the boring cod monkfish philosophy chit chat warbles back in and I zoned out.

Shamemaker. This is more like it. A good old drum machine and fuzz, catchy rock song with fake "British"-y vocals and a guitar solo that is far louder than the rest of the instruments.

Sweetheart In Summer. When this first started, I was immediately reminded of the gorgeous song Someday, from Shinola, so I stopped listening to this and put that on instead and got a bit teary-eyed christy i can't believe they left that off an album and released utter shit shit like this no I must keep an open mind sorry forget all that.
So anyway, I started back listening to Sweetheart In Summer, and wow, loved this one. LOVED IT. It's got a stodgy gravy-granule-brown 1970s polish to it, in a good way, like a well-maintained face moustache or a leather sofa in a cone of sunlit dust. The best track so far.

Lullaby. Another good one, seems like all the best tracks have been shunted to the back end for some reason (knowing that Your Party is coming soon). A nice piano ballad, Gene sings beautifully, the lyrics may be about a mother and her son, or they may be about sacrificing a donkey in a Satanic ritual, it's hard to tell, but it's really nice. Strings and keys buried deep in it, just their colours bubbling up like psychedelic spa water. THREE IN A ROW, BABY.

Woman And Man. Oh. Starts off sounding like Phish tuning up for a 45 minute jam about a "sweet hippay womain in the garden of cactis thorns, sellin her bodday in the mo-havey dessssert" sitar wankathon. Twelve minutes, or twelve hours, or the rest of the week, it goes on. Bongos should not be allowed, ever, in anything. In fairness, it does get rocking and I'm sure a lot of work went into this, and they had a blast playing it and it's a loving tribute to some Jerry Garcia kush whiteout ghost blowjob but fucks sake lads end the song END THE SONG FOR FUCKS.

Your Party. Amazing. If you think you don't like Ween, go and listen to this. It was never in doubt. Transcendental saxophone. "Tri-coloured paaaaastas". Car keys in glass bowls. A final kiss-off from Ween, their last song on their last proper album, and a beautiful way to go out.

Epilogue: The first half of this album was looking pretty grim, like I was right, so I was pleased to find quite a few songs I really liked a lot later on. I listened to it twice all the way through and think maybe a couple of others, like Blue Balloon, might grow on me.
I think a problem I had/have with La Cucaracha is I get the feeling it's referencing a lot of music that I don't really know much about, e.g. fiesta, country, yacht rock, cocaine dad music. Not to disparage any of that, just I don't really listen to it beyond the odd time someone makes me listen to Steely Dan (surprisingly more often than you might think).
My 2007 brain was talking out of its arse-cortex - I think this is better than Country Greats, and Your Party is a solid gold top 10 Ween song for me, might just put that one on again.

[Greg Torso]

Oops.

[Greg Torso]

Woman And Man. Oh. Starts off sounding like Phish tuning up for a 45 minute jam about a "sweet hippay womain in the garden of cactis thorns, sellin her bodday in the mo-havey dessssert" sitar wankathon. Twelve minutes, or twelve hours, or the rest of the week, it goes on. Bongos should not be allowed, ever, in anything. In fairness, it does get rocking and I'm sure a lot of work went into this, and they had a blast playing it and it's a loving tribute to some Jerry Garcia kush whiteout ghost blowjob but fucks sake lads end the song END THE SONG FOR FUCKS.

Hell, never mind my bad brains of 2007, my bad brains and bad ears of this very year of 2021 now eat shit and apologise because I've listened to this a third time and I LOVE IT NOW.
Never, ever, ever, EVER, ever, ever pay attention to anything I write on here again. It rocks and it's a perfect long lead-up to the silk sheets and whiskey tumblers of the closing track.

[Avril Lavigne]

I've never understood why people dislike this album so much, I think it's equal to any of their others. Welp see ya later

[the ouch cube]

Shamemaker's skewering of the fuck awful "dude I barfed up your mom's ass" Rock Sound magazine pop punk (unaccountably eulogised on a recent thread on here) is probably their funniest song ever

[Greg Torso]

Shamemaker's skewering of the fuck awful "dude I barfed up your mom's ass" Rock Sound magazine pop punk (unaccountably eulogised on a recent thread on here) is probably their funniest song ever

That's interesting and I think the fact that I didn't pick up on that or find it funny says a lot about why I didn't care for this album much. I don't tend to pay much attention to the 'parody' aspect of Ween, because they are such great songwriters and players. So with Shamemaker, for example, I chuckled a bit at the vocals - which yeah I can see are taking the piss out of that awful Green Day/Blink 182 affected whine - but didn't pick up that it was meant to be a pop punk joke - I just enjoyed it as a good song. The inverse was true for Learning To Love - from the point of replicating a style of music, it's great, it's dead on, I'm sure anyone into country bluegrass barndance music would love it, but I wasn't thinking about that, I was thinking about skipping immediately to the next song because I hated it as a piece of music. Not sure if I've made a point here or not, it's early and I'm tired. I think ever since Chocolate and Cheese, Ween have far surpassed being a band that is good at parodying other styles of music, and while there is still that piss-taking, goofy aspect, I mean it doesn't matter what Buckingham Green or Transdermal Celebration are making fun of, they are insanely stratospherically incredible songs

[Dr Rock]

I love Learning To Love. Yes it's vaguely bluegrass/country, but it's so catchy.

[Jawaka]

It goes without saying there's plenty of genre hopping throughout most of their albums and La Cucaracha isn't an exception. As a whole though unlike the others, this one doesn't seem to flow as well.. It sounds like either a collection of rarities/b-sides akin to Shinola (which actually does manage to sound like more of an album than this) or now after hearing the direction they went with their 'solo' projects a sort of split album where one half is Dean influence, Gene the other.

I don't hate it, and I agree with it picking up in the second half.. Just out of all their releases it's the one I'm least likely to listen to.

[The Mollusk]

Shamemaker's skewering of the fuck awful "dude I barfed up your mom's ass" Rock Sound magazine pop punk (unaccountably eulogised on a recent thread on here) is probably their funniest song ever

Looking forward to reading through this thread fully and contributing more later but yeah I fuckin love this song. "Feel it in the belly like a yellow worm with teeth" sung in that voice is a remarkable thing in and of itself.

[The Mollusk]

It goes without saying there's plenty of genre hopping throughout most of their albums and La Cucaracha isn't an exception. As a whole though unlike the others, this one doesn't seem to flow as well.. It sounds like either a collection of rarities/b-sides akin to Shinola (which actually does manage to sound like more of an album than this) or now after hearing the direction they went with their 'solo' projects a sort of split album where one half is Dean influence, Gene the other.

I don't hate it, and I agree with it picking up in the second half.. Just out of all their releases it's the one I'm least likely to listen to.

These are my sentiments exactly.

I love Learning To Love.

Me too! They played it when I saw them in 2016 (hey did I ever tell you guys I flew 5000 miles with a VIP ticket to see their reunion show? Stood directly in front of Gener two rows from the front? Got a signed poster which is framed on my wall? Best gig of my entire life three hours of uninterrupted Ween stoned out of my fucking gourd? I did that!) and it was really great to sing along to.

Ween have far surpassed being a band that is good at parodying other styles of music, and while there is still that piss-taking, goofy aspect, I mean it doesn't matter what Buckingham Green or Transdermal Celebration are making fun of, they are insanely stratospherically incredible songs

Yep, in fact I don't think "parody" is a fair term to use for Ween at all. They're more pastiche if anything, but even that term I think discounts from their brilliance since in the majority of instances they aren't borrowing sounds or styles, they aren't sending them up, they simply are those styles and sounds. Ween is that music.

12 Golden Country Greats is about as compassionately country as you can get, hiring and touring extensively with seasoned Nashville musicians, what they're doing is exploring the boundaries of that music and enjoying it greatly. Singing "I'm tripping, writhing and squealing, puking, looking for someone like you" on "I'm Holding You" isn't funny because it's vulgar, it's funny because you're taken aback that something so crass and at odds with the gorgeous steel guitar behind it can be so genuinely affecting and touching. It's beautiful, mang. Similarly "Piss Up A Rope" is so obscenely belligerent but if you were out line dancing and this came on you'd stomp the floor into fucking dust because it's a serious BANGER.

God I love Ween so much!

[The Mollusk]

Also I really like "Fiesta". They could have made it sound a lot better but they decided to make it sound like shit. The synth preset for the brass is so obnoxiously bad, the way it warbles grotesquely like blowing air through a straw into a trifle on the sustained notes is really fucking funny to me.

[LynnBenfield69]

For a song so loaded with predictable, workmanlike drum fills I always look forward to how the last one in the bridge glitches as a little musical joke.

I gave this record a spin today, was thinking about how like so much of their output the humour is underlined by an unserious use of artificial midi-sounds as well as a sort of solid state/digital stratocaster kind of vibe. Obviously they have chops for days - Woman and Man is what I wish Santana sounded like - but I can't help but wonder if they could benefit from a little more analogue, garagey grit in their sound. At the very least the drum sound on this record could do with being a little more focused.

[Brundle-Fly]

Fiesta. The first song, doesn't bode well. Mexican inspired trumpet swinger. It's a challenge. Strays a bit too close to ska as well, which is probably the worst kind of music you can have. I picture fat blokes in tiny hats and babies swimming goggles twanging their braces running around being very silly while it plays.

Blue Balloon.[/b] On first listen,sounds more like a band trying to sound like Ween. It's got the elements there - sluggish drum machine beats, slightly goofy voices and lyrics, a few squidgy synth squiggles - but it's lacklustrous. It's like a band trying to capture some of that pure guava juice but the brown magic just isn't there

Speaking as a fat bloke in a tiny hat wearing baby goggles, Fiesta ain't ska*, you tit, Greg. However, it is dire though.

But  Blue Baloon is one of the only saving graces on this trainwreck of an album.


*the best music genre**.

**It isn't, but anything to annoy the rock snobz.
.

[The Mollusk]

You know how much I hate ska! This isn't how I wanted to start my day Brundle!!!

[jobotic]

I have never heard Ween.

[Deliciousbass]

whatever the ambivalence of this album, this performance is just so fucking joyful:  !!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHJayd3zBH8&ab_channel=noochnooch

love when deen either forgets the words or just goes full rock gibberish at https://youtu.be/nHJayd3zBH8?t=97

with gene and claude giggling - then watching the crowd react to learnin to love !!!

[Noodle Lizard]

I came to Ween late (right around the time they broke up for a bit) and was surprised to learn how poorly-received this album was. Object, Learning To Love, My Own Bare Hands, Lullaby and Your Party are all great, as good as any mid-tier songs on their more respected albums. It has a few I never listen to, but so do most of their albums (I think Quebec is more uneven, personally, but its highs are admittedly better than La Cucaracha's).

Far from their best, but a fine addition to the catalogue.

[Noodle Lizard]

Also I really like "Fiesta". They could have made it sound a lot better but they decided to make it sound like shit. The synth preset for the brass is so obnoxiously bad, the way it warbles grotesquely like blowing air through a straw into a trifle on the sustained notes is really fucking funny to me.

Were you there on the night they played Fiesta in Colorado (I think it was the first night)? It popped off!

[The Mollusk]

whatever the ambivalence of this album, this performance is just so fucking joyful:  !!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHJayd3zBH8&ab_channel=noochnooch

love when deen either forgets the words or just goes full rock gibberish at https://youtu.be/nHJayd3zBH8?t=97

with gene and claude giggling - then watching the crowd react to learnin to love !!!

Haha, this is great. Look at all those happy faces in the crowd!

How could I have forgot the synth-vocal scat solo on "Learnin' to Love" when singing its praises earlier on?! It's the best fuckin bit!!

Were you there on the night they played Fiesta in Colorado (I think it was the first night)? It popped off!

Oh man, I wish. I probably could have afforded the whole weekend ticket at that time in my life to be honest but for some reason just went for the third night. I think I figured it would be kicking off the largest on the closing night, plus I think getting the VIP package for all three nights would have been a crazy price. I should have done it to be honest but nevertheless that three hour blast  got was something I'll never forget. They played "Don't Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy)" which is my favourite Ween song, I was crying tears of joy!

[Noodle Lizard]

Oh man, I wish. I probably could have afforded the whole weekend ticket at that time in my life to be honest but for some reason just went for the third night. I think I figured it would be kicking off the largest on the closing night, plus I think getting the VIP package for all three nights would have been a crazy price. I should have done it to be honest but nevertheless that three hour blast  got was something I'll never forget. They played "Don't Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy)" which is my favourite Ween song, I was crying tears of joy!

I think the third night was my favourite, so you picked a good one! It's incredible that they played close to three hours for three nights in a row without repeating a single song. The fact that I don't remember a single "oh there's a piss break" moment is testament to how strong their discography is.

One of the best weekends of my life, now I think of it. They're doing another three-nighter in Vegas soon, I hope I'm able to make it out for at least one of those.

[PaulTMA]

Those vocal / brass presets are found on all Roland stage keyboards of a certain spec and above from the 2000s and were around for ages by 2007... found it fitting that only Ween would choose to put them on an actual record

[The Mollusk]

Hehe, that's very interesting to know, cheers!

[Noodle Lizard]

Off to see them in Vegas first weekend of October. I think that was the last place I saw them as well, back in 2017. Can't wait.

[The Mollusk]

I'm insanely jealous.

[Brundle-Fly]

I'm insanely jealous.

Join the queue.  This has actually made me spill my drink with green rage.

[Noodle Lizard]

Sorry if that came off like bragging, that wasn't the idea! I'm just giddy about it and don't know many people in my personal life who are as into Ween as you lot.

[Brundle-Fly]

Sorry if that came off like bragging, that wasn't the idea! I'm just giddy about it and don't know many people in my personal life who are as into Ween as you lot.

You weren't.  Throw them a kiss from me and The Mollusk?

[PaulTMA]

I like this album and played it a lot when it was released.  Had no idea for ages that it was considered their worst, although I guess it is.  Wish they could sort out their shite and do another one tbh

[Noodle Lizard]

I like this album and played it a lot when it was released.  Had no idea for ages that it was considered their worst, although I guess it is.  Wish they could sort out their shite and do another one tbh

I'm not sure if there's a reason they haven't yet. It was five years between La Cucaracha and their breakup, and now another five years since their reunion. It does seem as though there's still a bit of tension between Gener and the rest of them, perhaps it really is just a "live shows to pay the bills" type of arrangement, sad as that is to consider. At least they still put on a blinding performance, but maybe that creative brotherhood is gone.

[PaulTMA]

It's really sad regardless.  Something is up.  Would never begrudge a band reforming to make money (like some others do), but if they can't face making new music together when it was all they used to do then that is something of a tradge