Quebec

Ween were always weird, sure, but nobody expected their eighth album to be weird in entirely new ways. Written around Gene Ween’s tumultuous divorce, things started out typically out-of-control with some psychobilly and jittery art-rock. As things progress the mood gets…dark. The two biggest songs, the low-key “Tried And True” and the Neil Young Armitage “Chocolate Town” deal very directly with Gene’s collapsing mental state and self-recrimination. By the time “If You Could Save Yourself (You’d Save Us All)”’s raw lament brings the record to a close with a whimper, it’s clear that the brothers have nothing but the most bittersweet chocolate and cheese to offer.