Weezer
Weezer (The Red Album)
(Geffen, 2008)

Weezer (The Red Album) is the third eponymous and sixth overall record for the band that has boasted one of the most distinct voices in rock since debuting in 1994 with Weezer (The Blue Album). Red finds these old dogs trying out a few new tricks—frontman Rivers Cuomo takes an occasional backseat, allowing his fellow band members to take on some of the band’s main roles (the best of which is drummer Pat Wilson singing “Automatic”)—and the whole shebang was overseen by superproducer Rick Rubin. Whether these new tricks work is another story.

Red’s first track, “Troublemaker”, leads off with an extremely familiar-sounding riff.  Instantly it begs the question, Is it familiar just because it falls into the heavily-strummed Weezer signature style, or because it’s a dead ringer for the riff on Pinkerton’s “The Good Life?” It’s a painful question to ask of a band that has been seminal in the listening habits for many true rock appreciators, but the reasons behind it may be even more depressing than the question itself.

Ripping off their own riffs is the first in a series of acts of pop-music defiance included on Weezer (The Red Album). The album’s first single, “Pork and Beans”, which was reportedly written as a response to the label asking for a hit, even goes so far as to literally admit that the band is struggling with the expectations placed on them by fans and the industry alike. “Pork and Beans” includes scathing lyrics such as “I don’t give a hoot about what you think / Everyone likes to dance to a happy song / With a catchy chorus and beat so they can sing along” that bluntly express Cuomo’s disdain for the limitations of being in a successful band.

Rather than the heart-wrenchingly honest self-expression that we are used to from Cuomo’s lyrics (a la his sweet, melancholy nerd anthem from 1994, “In the Garage”), much of the lyrical content on Red comes off as defensive and overly snarky. It almost seems as if Weezer functioned better as a polarizing indie act (in my opinion, Pinkerton was their greatest album, and it was poorly received) than as an agreed-upon ‘Great.’

The album’s most ambitious track, “Greatest Man (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)”, is a hodgepodge of musical styles and themes, and also a total head-scratcher. Moving from what seems like a rock-rap parody into some kind of Queen-inspired choir and piano epic, the track just can’t seem to gel, although it does eventually resolve into those beloved gloriously fuzzy guitar sounds and pronounced ascending melodies about three-quarters of the way through.

Hardcore Weezer enthusiasts can, however, find things to love about Red. “Dreamin’” harkens back to the well-paced pseudo ballads of the Blue Album days, and “Heartsongs” offers a nostalgic look into Cuomo’s influences.

Weezer (The Red Album) is, unfortunately, a less than stellar showing by a band with one of the most stellar (and deservedly so) reputations in modern rock. While so much of it is meant in jest, the snideness comes through as an achingly true account of what is stifling the creativity of our dear Cuomo. Industry fatigue is weighing on him. It may just be that the cruel music biz has finally squelched his ability to connect to us properly without fear.

Listen: Various Tracks [at myspace.com]

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