At this point in his career I have to accept that Cuomo knows exactly what he’s doing. I’ve always felt like he was lost. (Or hoped he was.) That he’s been bumping around in a dark room for the last 25 years trying to find a trapdoor that will take him back to the Blue Album. That he’s still trying to cover up for Pinkerton.
But I’m wrong. This is the first time I’ve taken a critical look at one of their albums but I know it’s no fluke. Cuomo knows exactly what he’s doing with his career.
I had some high school friends that started a band. The named their band Blow Me. Only at the risk of sounding offensive to adults they clamed that their name was Blowme (rhymes with “home”). So it was wink-wink type of thing.
That’s kind of how I feel about 21st Century Weezer. Layers upon layers of gags. And it’s all lost on me.
“Time Flies” is my favorite song on the album and I really, really like it. I like the steady drum beat, the 8-track sounding vocals, the acoustic guitar It doesn’t feel like he’s trying to play a trick on me. It sounds like a great recording of a live performance. It’s no secret I like lo-fi music that sounds like it’s only partially finished and that’s how I feel about this song. I really like it.
“Ruling Me”: they lyric “my ocular nerve went pop, zoom” is so freaking stupid.
“Unspoken” is a pretty good song. Second favorite. I appreciate that he acknowledges that he wrote it after getting married. I really like that. No jokes. Feels really sincere. Not like he’s talking about girls while he and his friends light bottle rockets in the empty field behind his house. The flute at 1:30 reminded me of Dave Matthews. I totally dig when the song blows up at the end.
“Smart Girls”: When Make Believe came out and the single Beverly Hills was released I was talking to a friend of mine name Jordan. I was lamenting what a stupid song Beverly Hills is and he defended it as an attempt to make an ironic statement about people chasing after the empty rewards of money and fame. I just kind of laughed at him until I realized he was serious. And maybe he’s right. And that’s how I feel about “Smart Girls.” Like I laugh at it until someone tells me it’s legitimate.
I just can’t grasp Cuomo’s obsession with “girls.” I wonder if there is a Weezer song that doesn’t mention or refer to “girls.” The best I can tell Cuomo hasn’t even come close to passing the Beckdel Test. Like, not the same galaxy.
Where’s My Sex: Incompresibly stupid. I can’t even describe how stupid it is. Like offensively stupid. This seems like Weezer’s absolute nadir.
To sum up: I like Weezer but I hate their music.
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