"[..] you will get down on your filthy knees and crawl to the altar that is Ween" - Music Of The Week
MOTW - Week 4
Music Of The Week (MOTW), every Sunday.
Posting what I’ve been listening to over the past week!
Note: Sorry for my absence these past weeks - I have been insanely busy and things might get busy again but I will try my best to keep posting these every Sunday. Thank you for sticking with me!
Ween (1984-present)
This article’s title is a quote from Henry Rollins, best known as the frontman of Black Flag in the early-to-mid-80s, after Ween’s performance at Trenton City Gardens in 1990. The crowd’s reception was unenthusiastic, causing Rollins to perform one of his renowned spoken-word rants in which he warned the audience that one day “you will get down on your filthy knees and crawl to the altar that is Ween”. How I listen to Ween is similar to how I listen to bands like Primus and They Might Be Giants - there is always this underlying ridiculousness the music holds which I strive to defend resolutely. I defend the “altar that is Ween”. Like most, ‘Ocean Man’ was my initiation into this band. That was back in 2019, and it really wasn’t until late last year when I decided to venture deeper. Quebec (2003) interested me. ‘Tried and True’ is probably my favourite Ween track so far into my exploration of their discography, but currently I’m really enjoying ‘Chocolate Town’. ‘Freedom of ‘76’ from their Chocolate and Cheese (1994) album kind of reminds me of early Beck. I’ve attached the music video for ‘Push Th’ Little Daisies’, from Ween’s Pure Guava (1992) album below. Don’t take this as the quintessential Ween song. I just really like this music video.
Todd Rundgren, ‘I Saw the Light’ (1972)
‘I Saw the Light’ is one of my favourite songs of all time. I first heard it while watching Kingpin (1996), a film I’ve been raving about again. It is a perfect song. Alongside the other tracks on Something/Anything? (1972), homages to Motown, the jazz-folk energy of Laura Nyro, and classic rock are prominent influences in this love song. The lyrics are straightforward with simple rhymes and repetitions:
“Then you gazed up at me
And the answer was plain to see
‘Cause I saw the light
In your eyes (In your eyes)
In your eyes (In your eyes)”
There really isn’t much need for deep analysis of ‘I Saw the Light’. I suppose this is my reminder for you all to go and relisten to it.
Mac DeMarco, ‘Baby’s Wearing Blue Jeans’ (2012)
Rock and Roll Night Club (2012) is Canadian musician Mac DeMarco’s debut mini-LP, often overshadowed by the indie beast that is DeMarco’s 2 (also released in 2012). Rock and Roll Night Club has this cool, lo-fi charm that I find super fun. ‘Baby’s Wearing Blue Jeans’, the record’s third song, is my favourite - a wacky ode to denim. I’ve chosen to add this to this week’s MOTW specifically because I’ve only really clocked how Weenish DeMarco’s vocals are in this album. That’s all there is to say.
The The, Soul Mining (1983)
My local record shop is the best ever. Genuinely, every time I have been interested in an album they will have it for a decent price. Anyway, what I’m attempting to set up is my newest vinyl purchase: Soul Mining by the London post-punk band The The. This one is particularly special because the album has my favourite song of all time on it (champion for six years running now): ‘This Is the Day’. I find it symbolic, in a way, that a song I view as representative of transitioning from adolescence to adulthood has held this ‘favourite song’ title since my discovery of it when I was thirteen. I am turning twenty this year and stand by my belief that this song cannot ever get old. A mix of optimistic aspiration and apprehension haunts ‘This Is the Day’s lyricism, backed by 80s synths and eccentric acoustic instrumentation. The song’s opening is stark and self-accusing, throwing the listener in the deep-end of the narrator’s forlorn spirit:
“Well, you didn’t wake up this morning ‘cause you didn’t go to bed
You were watching the whites of your eyes turn red
The calendar on your wall
Is ticking the days off
You’ve been reading some old letters
You smile and think how much you’ve changed
All the money in the world
Couldn’t buy back those days”
Yet, there is this bittersweet anticipation of better things to come: “This is the day, your life will surely change”. ‘The Sinking Feeling’ and ‘Uncertain Smile’ are other tracks on Soul Mining I would recommend you to go and listen to if you are big fans of ‘This Is the Day’. Matt Johnson’s talents in lyric-writing are remarkable.
favourite tracks: This Is the Day, The Sinking Feeling, Uncertain Smile
"Kingpin!" I love that movie so much. The soundtrack for that flick is really good. I've never been able to look at someone with a combover the same after seeing Big Ern's luscious locks. Very underrated movie of the 90s.