Liz Beson / illustrator
Weezer has been around for more than 20 years, and their latest album, “Everything Will Be Alright in the End,” reaches back almost to the very beginning. “Everything Will Be Alright in the End” (EWBAITE), released on Oct 7, is very much an album about a band going back to its roots and reclaiming its core audience. After just a few listens, the album feels less like a new release and more like an old friend, an established part of the Weezer canon.
Singer and lead guitarist Rivers Cuomo is in familiar territory from the very first song in the album, “Ain’t Got Nobody.” Cuomo was somewhat infamous in the band’s earlier days for being lonely and socially awkward, and for constantly singing about the love he’d never find. One might think a rehash of these same themes would ring hollow now, since Cuomo is 44 years old and was married in 2006. It manages to not sound forced, though. Maybe being a little lovelorn is just what Weezer does best.
Next up on the album is “Back to the Shack,” EWBAITE’s flagship single. It’s a really cool track, and despite a heavy helping of nostalgia, it doesn’t come off as desperate or passé. Actually, passionately Cuomo belts out a line about “rocking out like it’s ’94” (the year Weezer released their first album). Despite their introspective and sometimes even pessimistic lyricism, Weezer has always been about the catchy riff and the loud guitar– which is present here in abundance, reaching its gleeful peak with the line “If we die in obscurity, oh well / at least we raised some hell.”
The third song on the album, “Eulogy for a Rock Band,” was one of my favorites. The title is a little off-putting to loyal fans who hope the band isn’t ready to eulogize itself just yet. However, a closer listen reveals a tribute to Weezer’s musical influences, and a promise to carry on the legacy. “This is our toast to what you did, and all that you were fighting for…” Cuomo sings on the chorus. “We will sing the melodies that you did long ago.”
The band goes back to their roots again with the next track, “Lonely Girl.” It’s the kind of slightly warped, not-quite-love song that was so omnipresent on their second album, “Pinkerton.” Next on the roster is “I’ve Had it Up To Here,” a funky rant about artistic integrity that somehow manages to be extremely fun. As usual, Cuomo’s lyrics and delivery are a little hard to swallow (“Don’t wanna be mass consumed / I’m not a happy meal”). But, the song is no less wonderful for it.
“The British Are Coming,” “Da Vinci,” and “Go Away” constitute the filler of the album. They’re not bad songs, and I don’t find myself skipping over them, but they just don’t pack the same lyrical or musical punch as the rest of the album. I’m still not sure what “The British Are Coming” is trying to say, unless it’s literally just Cuomo giving his take on eleventh-grade U.S. history – which would be odd, although still well within Weezer’s limits of odd.
The tempo picks up again with “Cleopatra,” the album’s second lead single. More historical meanderings from Cuomo? Not really. “Cleopatra” feels more like the band meditating on how far they’ve come since 1994, with some really slick, spaghettified guitar licks driving the story.
“Foolish Father,” the tenth track, is where we really get a sense that Cuomo and the band have grown up. The song is mostly a letter to Cuomo’s daughter Mia, and a promise that he won’t repeat his own (often absent) father’s mistakes, as painfully revealed way back on Weezer’s first album, in the song “Say It Ain’t So.” Yet, I wouldn’t go so far as to slap a dad-rock label on the album, nor to say that Weezer is trying in vain to cling to their youth. On EWBAITE, the band has managed to reclaim their beloved early sound while leaving their immaturity in the past, where it belongs.
That marks the end of the narrative, but the album isn’t over yet. After “Foolish Father,” Weezer breaks out of its traditional ten-track mold and launches immediately into a trio of mostly-instrumental songs: “The Waste Land,” “Anonymous,” and “Return to Ithaka.” These last three are pure guitar-rock joy, unencumbered by lyrics (except on parts of “Anonymous”), an amped-up thank-you to the listener for tuning in.
“Everything Will Be Alright in the End” is a solid album all around, and the fact that it was released this late in the game, after a string of weaker albums (“The Red Album,” “Raditude,” “Hurley”), just makes it even sweeter. Here’s hoping we’ll hear more music on the horizon from geek rock’s greatest heroes.
Passanisi is a member of
the class of 2017.
