The Deaner Album

by Dean Ween, The Dean Ween Group

Overview

Far from running away from the persona of Dean Ween -- the stage name adopted when he was a teenager -- guitarist/singer Mickey Melchiondo runs straight into it, christening his first-post Ween project the Dean Ween Group and naming their debut record The Deaner Album. Like Freeman, the 2014 debut album by his partner Aaron Freeman -- the duo were separated when Melchiondo wrote and recorded the material for this 2016 album but reunited by the time it was released -- The Deaner Album illustrates precisely what Melchiondo brought to Ween...namely, much of the band's brown sound. Designed as a showcase for Melchiondo's guitar playing -- there are three instrumentals scattered throughout the album, two named explicitly after idols Dickey Betts (the Allman Brothers Band) and Garry Shider (Parliament-Funkadelic) -- The Deaner Album does provide plenty of examples of his six-string prowess, including the clean, lively picking of "Shwartze Pete." The title of that song also suggests how often The Deaner Album trades in cheerful vulgarity, a practice that can't help but recall classic Ween. Often, the album takes detours into madness: the hyperkinetic novelty "Exercise Man" sets the album off to a frenzied start, while "Gum," a de facto sequel to "Candy," provides a garish counterpoint to the heavy rock that surrounds it. None of these thick rockers sound alike: "Charlie Brown" is a swirling circle of doom, "I'll Take It and Break It" punishes with its stomping riff, "Bums" races along, while "Nightcrawler" revels in its menacing depravity. All this makes The Deaner Album sound a little excessive but there are also moments of madcap pop ("Bundle of Joy," "You Were There"), twisted country ("Tammy"), and funk ("Mercedes Benz"), all parceled out with expert pacing, so the album plays like a drunken, giddy party. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	10/21/2016
Label:	Ato
UPC:	0880882269920
Rank:	61837

Tracks

1. Dickie Betts
2. Exercise Man
3. Bundle of Joy
4. Charlie Brown
5. Shwartze Pete
6. I'll Take It (And Break It)
7. Garry
8. You Were There
9. Bums
10. Gum
11. Nightcrawler
12. Mercedes Benz
13. Tammy
14. Doo Doo Chasers

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Dean Ween Group   Primary Artist
Dean Ween   Primary Artist,Bass,Drums,Guitar,Vocals
Juno Manson   Vocals,Guitar
Tim Nayfield   Guitar,Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Bill Foster   Guitar
Chuck Treece   Drums
Claude Coleman   Drums
Curt Kirkwood   Guitar,Vocals
Dave Dreiwitz   Bass
Glenn McClelland   Piano,Keyboards
Michael Hampton   Guitar
Guy Heller   Vocals
Carol Brooks   Vocals
John Michel   Drums,Vocals
Michael Jude   Bass,Vocals
Bill Fowler   Guitar,Vocals
Gabe Monago   Bass
Ralph Liberto   Horn
Joe Kramer   Guitar
Ray Kubian   Drums,Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Stephen Haas   Keyboards
Scott Rednor   Guitar,Vocals

Technical Credits

Andrew Weiss   Mixing
George Clinton   Composer
Chris Shaw   Mixing
Garry Shider   Composer
Michael Melchiondo   Composer