Neither ducks nor quail on tap today, but big fish and weird musicians. Ween is one of those kinda-sorta well-known but mostly underground, out-of-the-mainstream groups that have been around forever, have a large and loyal following but are almost never heard on the radio. Think Primus, the Butthole Surfers or the Flaming Lips.
And like those groups, either you get them or you don't. How offbeat is Ween? One of their albums is entitled "Twelve Golden Country Greats" and it's an honest-to-gawd twangy traditional country album put together using real Nashville session musicians, and it sounds awesome. Of course, there are actually only ten tracks, and they have titles like "Piss up a Rope," "Japanese Cowboy" and "Help Me Scrape the Mucus Off My Brain." It's real country, it's just gone through a Ween-colored filter.
Want even more weirdness? Even though most of their albums come with an explicit lyrics warning (and with pretty good reason...) their music is good enough for Spongebob. Those of you with kids, remember this song at the end of the Spongebob movie?
Anyway, I've always been a Ween fan, and a couple years ago Joe Cermele, knowing I'm also a Butthole Surfers fan, sent me an e-mail and link to a website run by Ween's lead singer, Mickey Melchiondo. Turns out Melchiondo is a rabid angler. So rabid, in fact that he has a charter captain's license. You can actually book a fishing trip with the lead singer of Ween. How cool is that?
Not only that, but he tapes his own website-based fishing show, Brownie Troop F.S. when the band's not on tour. And if that wasn't delightfully weird enough, the episode Joe sent is of Melchiondo taking the Butthole Surfers on a Jersey striper fishing trip. The Butthole Surfers. Yeah, those guys. Striper fishing. Recreational pharmacology can't touch this level of weirdness.
And of course it's NSFW. Duh, they're rock stars...
My favorite part? This little gem of dialogue between Melchiondo and Surfers frontman Gibby Haynes as Haynes is trying to reel in a big striper:
"Walk towards the stern of the boat, walk towards the stern of the boat!"
"I dunno where the fuckin' stern is."
Priceless. And just for fun, admittedly not my favorite video, but one of my favorite Butthole Surfers tunes...
Whoa, Chad. Primus, Butthole Surfers and Flaming Lips referenced not only in the same post, but in the same sentence. Had to double check I was on the right blog. Also note, I actually had a copy Rembrandt Pussyhorse on vinyl, but must admit never quite got it. Maybe it's time to dust off the turntable for a relisten.
ReplyDeleteTo help round this out, Primus has a great song about catching fish out on my Delta here in Northern California.
ReplyDeleteDouble D, I have to admit that despite Rembrandt Pussyhorse being one of the greatest album titles ever, I'm sort of a lame Butthole Surfers fan in that like with my hometownies the Flaming Lips, I'm a much bigger fan of their more conventional stuff. And Rembrandt Pussyhorse was, well, a bit, uh, unconventional...
ReplyDeleteNow as for Primus, I love their weird stuff because I can listen to Les Claypool's bass playing all day long.
Yes. Fuck yes. That is all.
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