TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Weezer’s ‘The Black Album’ not as dark as its title suggests

Marcel Thee (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Wed, March 20, 2019

Share This Article

Change Size

Weezer’s ‘The Black Album’ not as dark as its title suggests Modern touch: Rock band Weezer returns with its 13th official full-length record, 'The Black Album'. (Courtesy of Weezer/-)

F

ollowing last month's surprise release of the covers album The Teal Album, rock band Weezer returns with its 13th official full-length record: The Black Album.

If there's anything new Black brings to the table, it's the most obvious presentation of the perplexity of Weezer's career – its most ardent fans wanting the old-school alt-rock sound; those same fans and critics panning most of the band's post-'96 output; the band making a lot of new fans and thriving as one of the last 90s alternative giants by writing songs critics and old fans jeer at; and perhaps the greatest mystery of all – frontman Rivers Cuomo not giving a hoot about what anyone thinks, or does he?

This is not a great Weezer album but it isn't a bad one. It is yet another late-period Weezer collection of songs that aren't as good as the fanbase may remember their first two (three? four perhaps? Your mileage may vary) albums to be, but one that isn't as abysmal as their worst moments.

It's largely written on piano so the melodic turns feel a little more ambitious than usual, and is the best thing about the album. 

Related to that writing approach – there is a lot less guitar than in the usual Weezer albums and a lot more reliance on synthesizers and overall electronic flourishes.

It also has a good amount of swearing, a first for Weezer and its main-brain, Cuomo. The swearing is definitely not the best thing about the album. The synth and electronica is at least refreshing. The production Dave Sitek (member of TV On The Radio) brings is crisp and filled with details – another refreshing element.

Leading yet again with another semi-hip-hop chart-tailored song – always the most challenging part of late-period Weezer to get through for old-school fans – The Black Album starts off with “Can't Knock The Hustle”, which has Cuomo somewhat rapping about “Sellin' lemonade by the side of the road”, running up his credit cards and leaving five star reviews, amidst a mix of standard electronica beats and Mexicana horns.

Modern touch: Rock band Weezer returns with its 13th official full-length record, 'The Black Album'.
Modern touch: Rock band Weezer returns with its 13th official full-length record, 'The Black Album'. (Courtesy of Weezer/-)

The album's following track is its best. “High As A Kite” is wistful and dramatic, the kind of thing young Weezer used to do in their sleep. It is also the one that feels the most effortless, save for its psych-rock breakdown.

So the question is, would Weezer be “better” if Cuomo and his cohorts (guitarist Brian Bell, drummer Patrick Wilson and bassist Scott Shiner) just relied on old instincts?

The rest of the album, like essentially all of Weezer's modern output, answers that with a resounding “ehhh maybe?”.

Cuomo isn't prone to celebrating nostalgia (“Memories”, “Heart Songs”) but he also adores modern pop hits' most obvious elements. The key question that fans always asks is – is Cuomo trolling fans? Is he being ironic with these rap beats and lyrics? Is he just very desperate to stay in the charts? Or does he just simply love experimenting with his songwriting?

To be clear, fans would absolutely love The Black Album if all the songs sounded like “High As A Kite”, and they would definitely detest it if the album was 10 variations of “Can't Knock The Hustle”. Here's the thing though – the former means Weezer plays it safe and easy while the latter is an almost 30-year old band still trying to write something different than their signature sound.

That that “different” approach may be driven by either commercial or artistic goals certainly matters, but it provides at least less of an assured answer than “If Weezer was still writing songs exactly like their much-adored 1994 album, are they even remotely artistically fulfilled?” (The answer is no).

So as fans of “old” Weezer, a change of perspective is likely to be the only method of survival. Weezer is an older guy still trying to be “down with the kids” and at least not a dude running his mouth about how much better things were “back in the day".

He's still got the same skills and can use them when he wants to. In fact, if you listen carefully, it trickles down in his “modern” songs -- the melancholy-yet-triumphant peaks of the funk-acoustic Linkin Park via Red Hot Chilli Peppers ditty “Too Many Thoughts In My Head”; the electronica calypso breeze of “Byzantine”; the teen-buzz of “Living in L.A.”; or the EDM probably-not-parody of “California Snow”.

Even as it covers itself in almost satirical studio trickeries and piano songwriting, the direct simplicity and dare I say, longing, pleading quality of Cuomo's songwriting is there.

The Black Album is indeed filled with all the “modern” elements that has filled a lot of Weezer records, but it also feels like a band that still wants to push itself, critics and old fans be damned. Sitek's production, the basic songwriting, and the arrangements are another experiment that not everyone will like. But this is Weezer in 2019 and is likely Weezer for the near and far future. We don't have to like it, but the band seemingly does, and well, that stands for something.

 

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.