Oh look, it’s that “New Weezer Record” time again.
I think if my longstanding loyalty to Weezer were ever going to be truly challenged, it would have been by Make Believe's "We Are All On Drugs". Or, if not then, then The Red Album's "Everybody Get Dangerous". Sadly, I'm still interested in new output from them, even if the volume of quality material is decreasing by the album (I mean, Red still had "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived", which was inexplicably, gloriously, one of Rivers' finest hours) and the volume of sheer unmitigated crap on a steady climb. So when a new single leaks online, my ears naturally prick up :
And it's not dreadful. It's catchy enough, and a well put-together record. Kind of weird to think of Rivers singing from the point of view of lovestruck teenagers, but what the hell, he's hardly the first thirtysomething rock singer to do so. But there's really nothing to it, is there? There's no heart or soul or wit or anything else that ran through The Blue Album and Pinkerton like lettering through Blackpool rock. And it continues a trend that's been evident ever since their "comeback" in 2001 : as decent as some of their material has been over the last eight years, I simply can't imagine anyone hearing anything post-Green and falling as deeply in love with the band as we all did before then. There are lots of people out there who adore what Weezer have become, but... their wrongness kind of makes you question your very position as a fan.
(Then again, I read a few blogs by people I know online who deeply love Old Doctor Who and everything it stands for, and are downright baffled by the popularity and success of the current version, which they may not necessarily hate but certainly can't see as "brilliant" or devotion-inspiring. Same thing, I suppose. But I love both versions of Who, so what do I know?)
And the new album is called Raditude. Seriously. Raditude. He's just taking the piss, now, isn't he? It's like, "Hmm, giving three albums exactly the same title didn't work, let's try something new..."
Originally posted at seblog.co.uk. You can comment here or there.