It could perhaps just be the sites I browse, but I keep hitting odd discussions of a recent Ween song, “Your Party.” The band is two guys, who call themselves Gene and Dean Ween; like the Beasties, the creators of “South Park,” Beck and a few other people, they traffic in fairly high-level pop-culture jokestering, combining an ability to approximate all sorts of genres and a deadpan delivery. In Ween’s case this is all leavened with a rather more druggy aesthetic than the others, and sometimes it’s not-all-that high level. But the band’s opaque humor remains sharp.

“Your Party” is definitely a joke song, but it’s hard to tell how or why it is. It’s basically a recorded formal thank-you note. (”We had a good time at your party/ The wife and I thank you very much,” runs the chorus.) The music is lulling, the beat is restrained; there’s a tasteful smooth jazz essence in the instrumentation and arrangements, and, curiously, in the lyrics as well:

There were beverages laid out for the party
There were candy and spices and tricolored pastas
The meat carved was drawn from succulent juices

The vocals have more than a touch of this grandiose formality to them. The song concludes:

Later on when we were under the covers
I closed my eyes, then I drifted to sleep
I dreamed about me maybe throwing a party
And just how great that would be

And to top it all off there’s a groovin’ sax solo—by Danvid Sanborn—lacing the entire song.

But … there’s something about the song that sticks in your head. One blogger had this to say about it:

I’ve been made aware of [Ween’s] new single “Your Party” off La Cucaracha while listening to [the radio show] Left of Center on Sirius. I sat through it in its entirety one time, which was plenty. Now, every time it comes on I change the station as quickly as I can. It’s a schmaltzy, seemingly endless, retro slow-jam about a (very boring) party played without a hint of irony. Typical Ween, except for the fact that it’s not the least bit funny, amusing, or even slightly catchy. I abhor this song. And, apparently, I am not alone. One of the LOC DJ’s, Jenny Eliscu, was talking last weekend about how the station has been barraged with hate mail aimed at “Your Party”, yet they still continue to play it because of all the “Ween fans out there.”

That produced the predictable backlash, including:

Really? You don’t see the irony? Let me guess…you’re still single and bar-hopping your way through your late 30’s. Do you still dress like a bike messenger? Pull your pants up, you dorky hipster.

And:

When I hear that “Your Party” song, I shed a tear and mourn the death of once-great station (LOC). It bothered me so much the other day that I had to take off my rectangular glasses and massage my temples to ease the pain.

Is this what the world’s come to? I can’t enjoy the serene, majestic overtures of the Arcade Fire without being subjected to this tripe? ‘Tis a sad day.

And:

Oh dear!!! My Left of Center has been polluted by a Joking Rock song!!! I DARE SAY!!! I must dispatch a missive post haste to the music punditry at Slate to alert them to this vexatious rumpus!!!

More here.

You can probably find a download of the song here. Video of the band sans Sanborn here.