Quebec

Quebec was the result of hundreds of hours of writing and jamming that Gene and Dean Ween did with various session musicians after leaving Elektra in 2000. Working primarily out of the New Jersey studio of longtime collaborator Andrew Weiss (who not only produced and mixed the album but contributes keyboards and vocals to several songs), the band uncovered a new maturity level. That’s not to say its famously shaggy sense of humor didn’t remain intact—just check “Hey There Fancypants” for proof—but Quebec feels less frantic and less emotionally evasive than the old albums. There are big bad rock songs (“It’s Gonna Be a Long Night,” “Transdermal Celebration”) and miniature oddities in the vein of classic Ween (“Zoloft,” “So Many People in the Neighborhood”). But the album is defined by the half-folksy, half-spacy warmth of “Chocolate Town,” “Among His Tribe," and “If You Could Save Yourself (You’d Save Us All).” Gentleness and balminess aren't typically seen as innovative traits, but in the context of Ween—a band at one time renowned for its acid-soaked musical tantrums—Quebec's soft touch feels like new ground.