Gene Ween Band

The prospect is more than a bit jarring: Seeing one of the founders of Ween play a show without the other seems comparable to catching a Bud Abbot routine minus Lou Costello. But Gene Ween (aka Aaron Freeman) is taking a break in Ween's demanding live and studio schedules to tour with the Gene Ween Band. While the quartet has appropriated part of the Ween moniker and includes some of that act's songs in its sets, it claims entirely original and new sounds. There's a much rougher and, at times, unrefined aesthetic; songs like "It's Not Cool," "DC Won't Do You Know Good" and "Mountains and Buffalo" lack the benefit of Ween's three-decades-plus of artistic evolution. Nevertheless, the outfit boasts solid chemistry, and its performances retain Gene's wit, irreverence and energy, qualities that should fit well into the intimate settings of the Walnut Room and the b.side lounge.