a punk song that was described as reminiscent of Nirvana's "Territorial Pissings". The opening track "We Dance" is a ballad that features acoustic guitars and piano, while "Father to a Sister of Thought" is a quasi-alternative country song that uses a pedal steel guitar. Malkmus played a Gibson SG with P-90 pickups on "Rattled by the Rush", which also features occasional harmonica at points. Due to higher production values, the album generally lacks the lo-fi aesthetic of its predecessors. Most lyrics on Wowee Zowee explore humorous and cryptic themes. Although many songs give the impression that their lyrics are nonsensical, they can unpack a meaning on further inspection. For example, "Grounded", which suggests that something bad might happen after a doctor leaves for a routine holiday while his unsupervised teenage daughter parties, can be interpreted as an account of middle class decadence. The song "Half a Canyon" mostly focuses on an over-driven guitar sound that Malkmus had never heard before. The lyrics are meaningless and were simply added for decoration; Malkmus said that he screamed so hard towards the end of the song that he scared himself. He thought that he would have an aneurysm and decided to never scream like that again. Kannberg's "Kennel District", which was described as a fuzzy power pop song, is considered one of the album's most accessible songs because it features a traditional verse-chorus-verse structure. Packaging and release The cover art for Wowee Zowee is a painting by American artist Steve Keene, who caricatured it from a photograph originally found in Life magazines 1972 World Library title The Arab World. It depicts two Arab women and a goat. Omitted from Keene's photograph is a girl in a tan dress holding a baby, stationed between the two sitting women. The caption below the original photo reads, "A midday rest is enjoyed by three Arab women and a goat on an arbor-shaded porch. Fellahin women often wear black robes over their other clothing." Malkmus saw the artwork during a live painting session at one of Keene's exhibitions. He chose the piece due to its resemblance to the front cover of Guru Guru's 1972 album Känguru, one that he had always admired. The album's title is a homage to the band's former drummer Gary Young, who would frequently yell "Wowee Zowee" when excited. The phrase "Dick-Sucking Fool at Pussy-Licking School" was originally suggested by Nastanovich as a