Dear Dean and Gene Ween,

Hey guys. What's up? I can't believe it's been ten years since GodWeenSatan. Man, I am so old. I remember listening to "You Fucked Up" while sipping Pixie Sticks in the high school parking lot. And Pure Guava... "Tender Situation" and "Don't Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy)" are classics from my college years. After that I had a little Ween downtime, but recently I heard The Mollusk, which is pure demented genius... one of the most ridiculous rock albums ever. The title track is the best prog-rock song never written in the 70's, while your Irish accents on "The Blarney Stone" are hilariously awful and "Mutilated Lips" is disgusting, yet oddly compelling.

Last week, a buddy in "the industry" let me borrow an advance copy of your new album White Pepper and, whoa, was I surprised! There's a noticeable lack of the word "fuck," and some songs even sound like real pop tunes. What's even more frightening is that they're great... "Even If You Don't" could be an outtake from a John Lennon album, and "Stay Forever" is just waiting to be played at proms across America (that's a compliment). I guess it's not like you guys have gone totally serious though... there's still the Jimmy Buffett parody "Bananas and Blow," the Queensryche-like "Back To Basom" (yeah, I remember "Silent Lucidity"...) and the dead-on Steely Dan-ish "Pandy Fackler." And you guys obviously still know how to rock on tunes like "Stroker Ace" and "The Grobe," which recall vintage metal bands like Motorhead and Black Sabbath. Now the strangest thing about you guys is that you sound ten times better than the bands you make fun of, even when you're not making fun of anyone.

Rock on, Deaner! Rock on, Gener! I salute the wonderous entity that is Ween!

Your devoted Boognish follower,
E-Rock

-- Eric Schneider