Zack Attack is Dead!

So in the spirit of Noel Gallagher finally breaking off from Oasis, my band Zack Attack has decided to disband and immediately reband under a different name. We were quite seriously complexing over what name to use, but finally, we decided to honor of the humorous Japanese mispronunciation of our former lead vocalist Ruth Kingdon by naming the group "Loose Kingdom." The name also seems to suggest the nature of our band: a group of fine musicians inspired by a wide range of musical influences might find it difficult to be as one. But our task is to use our diversity as our strength to create a united kingdom (not THE United Kingdom") of great music, loosely held together as it may be. Well, enough about deep meanings and symbols, just filling everyone in on the change.

Anyway, from now on as a way of motivating me to write more on my blog, I have decided to review one album every week. Some music is new to me, other old. However, it will always be an album I've been getting into over the course of the preceding week. I've decided to call this section "What I've been getting into this week." So here goes:

What I've been getting into this week...

White Pepper - Ween

This album from Pennsylvania's Indie rock legends is so eclectic, it's impossible to pigeon-hole their style into one genre. Whether its jazz, power punk, country, psychedelic music, or even Kenny Loggins-esque yacht rock, one never knows what to expect next. The concept behind their musical ADD seems simple. Signaled by their offbeat, often funny or cynical lyrics and the use of bizarre sounding voice and guitar effects, Ween takes aim at the entire idea of genre. The album, much like a Tarantino film, dissects each genre it presents, taking the pomp and glitter away and allowing the listener to think about the basic foundation of the style being presented. The best example is "Bananas and Blow" which sets the innocent, overproduced calypso singer/songwriter style of the late 70s against the theme of sitting around doing cocaine with no particular direction. The contrast seems to suggest the entire genre had little more aim than to set a melodic backdrop for rich, white people to ride their yachts and indulge in cocaine. Throughout it all, Ween manages to keep a cohesive sound, which only on rare moments might make the passive listener wonder if "White Pepper" was a compilation album of various different groups. This method of album construction challenges the listener to think about the system of genre and categorization (i.e. rock, jazz, blues) which exists in the music industry and wonder if such characterizations truly have any utility in understanding the essence of a group. In the case of Ween, at least, it certainly does not.

Noteworthy Songs:
Every song on the album is good, but I found The Grobe, Pandy Fackler, Back to Basom, Stay Forever, and Falling Out to be particularly outstanding compositions.