SOUND BITES

  When reviewing the first of Weezer's four seasonal EPs back in March, I talked about how they seemed to be enforcing arbitrary rules of aesthetics in service to the "spring" gimmick, which could be seen as a disservice to otherwise fine songs that didn't need to be twisted toward a concept, as loose as it was; even a quarter of the way through this ambitious exercise, it was clear that not every idea was bound to stick, and this was confirmed by the SZNZ: Summer EP. Choosing not to take the layup and offer up the bright melodies and sun-soaked hooks that they're best at, Weezer went into full wildfire mode for summer, packing the EP with scorched guitars and clumsy genre mashups. For SZNZ: Autumn , one might glance at the spookiness of the cover and expect some touches of goth, new wave or even a little doom metal, and yet it's being talked up as "the dance one", and these seven songs are as likely a soundtrack to your changing leaves and pumpkin ...

  When Weezer dropped the first of four seasonal EPs in March, it became clear early and often that the gimmick was taking precedence over the songs; aside from the Vivaldi interpolation and the increased use of acoustic instruments, underneath the hype this was simply another batch of mediocre-to-passable Weezer songs.  If Spring felt like a continuation of the orchestral OK Human , then Summer acts as a shrunken sequel to Van Weezer , their other 2021 album and one that saw them attempting to flex their rock muscle, tipping their leather hats to guitar heroes of the '80s. Well, sort of; this EP also naturally features more nods to Vivaldi and some of the sugary power pop that Weezer can't help but hit upon occasionally whether they're trying to or not, but it also has record scratches ( Records ), a little synthy new wave ( The Opposite of Me ), and a good old fashioned Beatles-esque horn intro ( What's the Good of Being Good ). Its main area of focus, though, is more...

  The first of four planned EPs to be released in tandem with the change of seasons in 2022, Weezer's latest experiment in gimmickry is meant to feel truly ambitious; its first installment, SZNZ: Spring , finds the band returning somewhat to the chamber pop they surprised with on last year's OK Human (one of two albums that saw release by Weezer in 2021, alongside the big dumb rock of Van Weezer ). Acoustic instrumentation pops up throughout, although there are swaths of sugary noise punctuating many of the choruses; lead track Opening Night is a prime example, interpolating Vivaldi's Four Seasons (because of course it does, as it's already been said the following three installments will) as Weezer do their best to mash up 18th century concertos with '90s power pop. It's noble in its intention but the execution doesn't feel quite right. A better indicator of what this approach can sound like when done properly is highlight Angels On Vacation , which uses ...

At this point, a quarter century into their career and with a dozen studio albums of original material under their belts, it's kind of shocking that anybody still gives a shit about Weezer. Their best days are long behind them at this point, and they've spent the better part of the last fifteen years or so alternating between underwhelming artistic detours and outright awful attempts at relevance. Before the release of this, their sixth self-titled record, Weezer earned their biggest hit in years in the form of a faithful cover of Toto's Africa , as spurred on by a tweet and the eventual endgame for which became a full album of covers that was surprise released mere weeks before dropping "the black album. That "the teal album", a meme-worthy but painfully on-the-nose collection of covers garnered more attention than their new album of original songs says a lot about Weezer's current status; the majority of fans would rather hear them play cheesy song...

It's time to call a spade a spade; Weezer has been in a borderline abusive relationship with the majority of its fan base for the better part of the last twenty years. Every time they underwhelm with a failed attempt at Top 40 domination and we say "enough is enough", they come crawling back with more crunchy power pop nostalgia and eventually win us back, only to go chasing that elusive mainstream success again. So, in a way, we should have known Pacific Daydream was going to find Rivers Cuomo in full hit-chasing mode again. Even still, it's kind of jarring just how blatant the attempt is time around. You'd have thought Weezer would have learned their lesson when Raditude fell flat on its face nearly a decade ago (and there were seemingly lessons learned judging from the three following records), and yet here we are again being presented with tune after tune of polished, shiny pop with mainstream aspirations. Mexican Fender , with its power chords and colo...

Like many fans, I have a complicated relationship with Weezer. As the less angsty, kind of nerdy answer to the deluge of sullen, mostly disingenuous alt-rock groups of the mid-'90s, Weezer mounted a distinct counterattack, concentrated more on fun tunes and charm than brooding and self loathing. Not that there's anything wrong with that, and I may be one of the decade's staunchest supporters, but Weezer were the breath of fresh air that offered respite when all that angst and darkness became suffocating. Which made it all the more disappointing when the '00s came around and Weezer became the textbook definition of "diminishing returns". Their second self-titled record (or "Green") was a valiant effort, but it was followed by the grumpy bro-rock of Maladroit , the wispy, meditative Make Believe , the scattered and disjointed "red" album, and the sad, desperate attempt at mainstream relevance that was Raditude . Needless to say, not a...

Weezer's ninth album really wants to be the grand return to form it's being marketed as. It goes so far as to explicitly state its intentions as such in lead single Back To The Shack (which, if you want to take solace in something, is by far the worst song on the record), wherein primary songwriter Rivers Cuomo professes a desire to be "rockin' out like it's '94". Of course, there's an inherent natural problem with the approach; expressly attempting to recapture a decades-old feeling and chemistry can't help but come off as disingenuous regardless of how well it's executed. Everything Will Be Alright In The End does everything it can to get the goodwill of critics and fans back. Producer Ric Ocasek is back in the fold to help the band rekindle some of the rock fire that they burned with during their iconic first two albums and sporadically since. The band themselves still remember most of their old tricks, and use these callback triggers wi...

Long before they'd flamed themselves out creatively to the point of embarrassment, Weezer were a scrappy group of book smart rockers who channelled what it was like to be young and awkward in '90s America and went on to strike a chord with disaffected teens the world over. That this album was successful as it was owes an tremendous debt to Spike Jonze, who directed the Happy Days-augmenting Buddy Holly video that was revolutionary and mind blowing in late '94; its charming use of tech fit perfectly with the sweet n' chunky rock of the hit song. It portrayed Weezer as funny, charming guys, a far cry from the barrage of angry, dangerous men in heavy rotation on MTV. The "blue album" is soaked with the awkward charm that Rivers Cuomo would later sprinkle anguish into on the almost disaster then/universally hailed now Pinkerton . That album is the true creative pinnacle for Weezer, but it's often suffocatingly dark and isolated, whereas Weezer is brigh...