WEASELS RE-RIPPED

I can no longer recall how this album came to my attention, but I'm glad it did. This is a full-album multiple-artist cover of the great (truly) Avant-Rock album Weasels Ripped My Flesh. That album, released in 1970, following its sister-album Burnt Weeny Sandwich (also 1970), was the final recorded statement by the original lineup of The Mothers of Invention. In addition to Avant-garde stylings mixed with Rock (for a classic and popular example, see "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama"), Weasels was a statement of early Jazz-Rock Fusion and even Free Jazz (see the hilariously named "The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue").

Our first two tracks are performed by Spanner Jazz Punks, the opener, "Didja Get Any Onya?" having an immediately very interesting approach to the song. Unique is their utilization of the violin here, as a solo instrument. There are quirky group vocals, very jazzy elements (nearing minute 3, it swings hard, for instance). It is refreshing hearing this track I've heard many times before done in a unique and more modern way. To quote the original Mothers: "MOO-AHHH!" Interestingly enough, it was the spacy reed(?) solo in the latter half and other elements that reminded me here of Gong. And just as I said, Spanner Jazz Punks continue on, violin of course at the ready, with "Directly from My Heart To You". I can't say I'm anywhere remotely a fan of the Blues as Frank was, but with Sugarcane Harris' vocals and especially his Blues violin solo (Who's heard of such a thing?!), "Directly" is one of my favorite Zappa tracks, end of the day. The vocals in this cover are distant and weird, and... my mind is going there once again with Spanner (apparently the vocalist here)... he sounds like Daevid Allen (again, of Gong)! Like... you can't make this up, right? Then again, who knows? Perhaps another notable influence for them. There isn't a wild solo on this one and the overall accompaniment is just par-worthy to me, but there's some interesting ideas and effects that were used here.

Up next is "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Sexually Aroused Gas Mask" as performed by Inventionis Mater. Very minimal, this song starts off with arpeggiated acoustic guitar and a soft, distant clarinet. It's really quite beautiful, though minimal throughout. At most, it picks up and then comes right back down. Two vocalists then perform the ridiculousness to follow. Ya know, all the crazy sh*t Roy Estrada did originally. The homage deepens, as they thank the guest vocalists "for the voices inside the piano". We couldn't have a more rightly stark juxtaposition than in Gumbo Variation's rendition of another favorite of mine, the unspoken Conceptual Continuity of "Toads of the Short Forest". This is quite the cacophony! The lead guitar work is quite nice, performed against the loud, wall-to-wall booming from the rest. This ensemble blast dies down around minute 3. We seem to be back into spacy territory on this one, too. Really lovely track, but I was bummed it didn't feature the seemingly Proto-Metal insanity of the original's second half, a favorite Zappa moment, for sure.

First off, until I heard the next, "Get a Little" as performed by Jerry Outlaw and Friends (feat. Todd Grubbs, I had no idea what in the hell Motorhead was saying in the beginning. Oh me, oh my... As for the song, this could almost be a Zoot Allures-era rendition. It's booming and metallic (certainly modernized, in the very least). And then... Evil Dick does "The [aforementioned] Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue" and... this sh*t is weird!!!!! Very electronic, and done so in a way I feel Frank would have really been honored. Some of the underlying rhythms (like in minute 1) are almost trance-like. The keyboards play in stride with the mallets (whatever they are specifically). Then we have some... really wildly effected vocals and some... spacy farts? haha. I'm very entertained. What the original Mothers accomplished here was a certain feeling of unsettled, but here, this at times can be downright frightening. Well done.

An even less expected comparison was made in my mind when Fuchsprellen's version of "Dwarf Nebula Processional March & Dwarf Nebula" came on: Gentle Giant?! Around minute 1 it reveals to be more Zappa- brand maximalism than theirs, but the feeling is definitely present (which I love). Wait! Is that an actual sample of Frank's voice I just heard? They really brought a lot of special out of this composition. And there is a lot to take away from and hear out of this cover. Impressive end product, especially as your ears might latch onto the wild multi-performer soloing at one moment and then onto the underlying bluesy rhythm section the next. I really got brought back to reality on the straight playin' of "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama", an interesting and unique rendition by Muffin Men, the first band (with two others) here I had heard of prior. Perhaps this is more inspired by the later bands' plays on the song or performances from alums such as Steve Vai. Hard to say. It's slowed and real cool. If I can say anything at all, I'm not sure I feel this version needed to exist, but, like the others, they did manage to pull interesting elements from the original.

Up next is The Zappatistas' performance of one of the greatest Zappa compositions ever, "Oh No". And right off the bat, totally unlike the original, as a solo and deeply reverberating guitar--performed by the great John Etheridge of Soft Machine Legacy(!!!)--plays on into oblivion. Piano enters in before minute 1 and the theme is continued on the guitar. I'm surprising myself by saying it, but I could go for more minimal Zappa covers like this. Like a stripped down Guitar Fusion (no wonder). Stripped down, that is, until 3 minutes, where percussion enters in and the piece lifts and quickens to a rhythm more discernibly "Oh No" than before. Man, though... I really could have gone for more of what they had there at the end. Either way... And wow!!! The vocals thereafter, on "Son of Orange County" (from Roxy and Elsewhere), are sung in a classical style over the slower ("original") "Orange County Lumber Truck"! A great song, and the version here by Zappa Early Renaissance Orchestra is lively and modern and exciting. I am soooo about this. The drums, I was excited to see, are performed by the excellent Prairie Prince (The Tubes, Journey, Todd Rundgren). Absolutely loved this one. Finally, Zappatika covers the NOISE of our title track, "Weasels Ripped My Flesh". And I honestly love what they chose to do here. Where there was very little to latch onto on the original, they add apparently found-sounds, for instance, to wonderful effect.

I am pleased to report Re-Ripped is a very well performed and fresh take on a wonderful album. I think they all did a great job in honoring the man, Frank Vincent Zappa, here. And I look forward to digging just a little bit (right now, actually) into some of the bands featured here.

True Rate: 3.75/5.00