mrshl | blog

A quick post about Weezer.

As Weezer gets ready to release another of their single-color, eponymous records (you will remember the legendary Blue record and the not-totally-terrible Green record), I thought I’d take a moment to provide an alternate take on the frequently attacked rock band.

Next week, we’re getting the Red record. And its ridiculous self-portrait suggests something interesting. The band has reached its "a-ha" moment.  "Yeah, we get it," they’re saying. "You’re upset that we’ve never been able to match the bubblegum-metal awesomeness of our debut. You’re pissed that we’ve never again explored the socially-impaired pathos of Pinkerton, our relatively dark and unhinged masterpiece. And yeah, you’re probably puzzled that we’re not even trying to replicate our blandly catchy, but good-natured third record. It was at least listenable. You’ve might have heard our last few records…or not, but you think we’re total crap. Hell, you might even be right."

(deep breath)

"Guess what? We. Don’t. Care. Anymore. In fact, we’re gonna simultaneously enjoy, exploit, and mock our fame, ourselves, and our past. We’re going to drive a stake so deep into the dark heart of pop music’s cynical present, you won’t even be able to listen to ‘In the Garage’ without knowing we’ve buried that sound forever."

Strong hints of Weezer’s evolving sardonic commercialism were definitely present in Make Believe’s "Beverly Hills," but they’re really laying the hammer down with the first single from the Red Album. If you’re recovering from some kind of horrible sickness and haven’t seen the video yet, here it is. I’ll wait a moment while you watch.

What I loved about this video and this song was how Rivers Cuomo finally, if somewhat cryptically tells you he’s figured things out. This interview with the video’s director explains the attitude better than I can. So do the lyrics:

Imma do the things that i wanna do
I ain’t got a thing to prove to you
I’ll eat my candy with the pork and beans
Excuse my manners if i make a scene
I ain’t gonna wear the clothes that you like
I’m fine and dandy with the me inside
one look in the mirror and i’m tickled pink
I don’t give a hoot about what you think

So what’s so cryptic? Well, I love the layers here. Weezer’s recent singles seem to have consciously abandoned their initial indie-rock fans in favor of younger kids who can’t tell the difference between Weezer and the Jonas Brothers. So the simplistic top layer of kitchen-table rebellion is for the kids. But look at the diction here: hoot? dandy? tickled pink? Dude might as well be wearing sock suspenders. Tell me he’s not evoking that nostalgia of going your own way for the first time in a long time. He remembers what it was like to strap on a guitar instead of shoulder pads. Now, he’s an old man eating the meal he made himself.

Rivers Cuomo has always been a metal head trying to figure out how punk won the battle to be a new generation’s classic rock. In a world where metal and hard rock can only be found in Guitar Hero, he’s pointing to the heart of what it means to be himself. This is a new start for a guy who never quite made his peace with coolness. He is a famous weirdo; and he’s finally getting into the finger-paint absurdity of fame. Rather than accept fame begrudgingly, he’s remembering what his idols in KISS did with it. They took their 15 minutes and ran. They enjoyed it. They swam in it. They had action figures and lunch boxes. They might not have been the best, but they weren’t shy about jumping the claim.

When you think about it, the least Cuomo and Weezer can do to honor their 70s metal heroes is moisten their eyebrows with cocked middle fingers and point them at their fickle former fans. Two indisputable classic records is way more than you have a right to expect from any band, much less a band that’s been covered by both Dashboard Confessional and the Olsen Twins. They really don’t have a thing to prove to you.

Or, as they might say, "If you want to rediscover what it’s like to be a Weezer fan, listen to us again on OUR terms. There’s something you’re not hearing. There’s depth. There’s humor. There’s hooks. We’re like the Darkness, except we’re aware that ‘post-punk’ and ‘post-hardcore’ are even more hilarious than hair metal."

I dunno what to think when they say it like that. I guess I might take another listen to these last few records. With new ears, and maybe a few new tricks I learned from Guitar Hero. Music is fun again.