2007年 Apr 9日 Monday, 22:38
I've just heard a song called Pig (downloaded from Shameless Complacency mp3 blog here), allegedly from Rivers Cuomo's latest batch of demos, and got excited about Weezer again. It reminded me how Weezer were the first band that I really got excited about. I often checked their ridiculously complete and frequently-updated gigography 'Karl's Korner' and pored over their latest setlists. I got into guitars and played most of the songs from Blue and Pinkerton 'til I knew them inside-out. I went to their shows and fell under their spell. This all roughly coincided with their 2001 comeback, Weezer (Green Album). This 'second coming' was initially met with extremely good will, but six years on, it seems that most can't find much of a case for Green and the efforts since (Maladroit, Make Believe) really matching up to their formidable 90s double-whammy of Weezer (Blue) and Pinkerton. I find the latter three albums worthwhile rather than essential listening, disappointing given the track record. A once-brave Cuomo latched onto formulaic songwriting structures, neutered his once-soulful lyrics, and the once-dynamic band even briefly gelled into a boringly reductive guitar-pop machine that pretended Pinkerton's meticulous noise never happened. A lot of the songs and sounds are calculated rather than honest.
That said, there are great tunes buried in the three albums and many b-sides and demos of 00s Weezer, and I want to highlight some of them.
Teenage Victory Song - They still opt for a completely unimaginative guitar solo, but this Hash Pipe b-side all about one-upmanship has the kind of quirks Green sorely lacked. 'Gonna play all night, I'm gonna beat you right, and mash you in the nads, and kick you outta sight'.
Glorious Day - It's no more adventurous or dynamic than anything else on Green, but I tend to come back to this as the one that actually attaches its music to its meaning most successfully. The verse melody's kind of insistent, in line with the resolve planted in the lyric. The intro lead transforms from the bashful wonderer to the determined romantic as the crunch beckons the song in. Er, maybe. Like everything else on Green, it ended up being miles better live a year on with a spiffy new arrangement. But unlike a lot of Green (there are other exceptional moments), I think it has a beating heart.
Your Room - a Maladroit demo with a deeply derivative riff that somehow wins me over with its 'choo choo' motif and then its perfect chorus 'You're coming up worlds away/there's nothing that I can say/and all of these games you play will lead me to your room'. The only words, similar to the sparse lyrical policy of…
Death and Destruction - the lyrics would fit on a Post-It note but this is as honest and direct as anything on Pinkerton. Its fleeting chorus of 'So I learn to turn and look the other way' over huge crunchy guitars is one of the most affecting moments on Maladroit.
Burndt Jamb - I have to pick this purely for the thrilling, cheerful groove and chord riff. No idea about the words but I know the demo lyrics were better than the 'Gothic flavour' ones.
December - Only 'Only trust can inspire/soggy lungs to breathe fire' seems slightly idiotic, but in a way that is more charming than Dope Nose's lyrical lobotomy. Also some of the best drumming on Maladroit, the 'It's only natural…' section has a great busy tumble going on.
What Everybody Wants - an outstanding acoustic demo with two guitars, gentle lead lines dancing around ambitious vocal melodies. Didn't make Make Believe, which is nuts.
Pardon Me - in all fairness, most of Make Believe is honest music, often to its detriment in that it takes that to extremely literal levels. Pardon Me is surely the most guilty of this, but escapes much criticism from me, because the positive overwhelms the self-pity and it's excellent pop besides. A lifetime of power chords comes to the fore as the verse smoothly, beautifully slips away into pure apology.
Haunt You Every Day - the obvious standout track on Make Believe. One of the most jealous things Rivers ever wrote, thoughtfully arranged into piano chords and moody, shrill lead lines the likes of which we haven't heard from Brian in a long time. Singing along with his guitar in the nicely noodly coda, Rivers ends the album on a high and promises great things.
Pig - The song boils down a pig's entire life and loves into a few minutes of gentle nostalgic whimsy and huge torch-song notes. The last words 'When I was a baby, I was so happy, I'd play with my friends in the mud' pleased me. Finally he's not copping out with vague generalities, nonsense, or the over-literal. The song works as a sensical, interesting, resoundingly Cuomo metaphor. I like that I can't actually imagine this being twisted into anything that would fit into a Weezer album that currently exists. If Rivers is writing like this instinctively, let's hope he doesn't keep it separate, and the next record will be something very interesting.