When I heard Weezer’s fourth self titled album was made to sound like Pinkerton, I thought, maybe I’ll just put on Pinkerton again, its been a while and this way I know for certain that I’ll be pleased instead of possibly disappointed. Then I heard the backstory of their 10th album, and curiosity got the best of me.
To produce what Weezer would like for us to call, ‘The White Album’, Cuomo, who is married, decided to join Tinder to find songwriting inspiration. His profile made it clear that he wasn’t looking to date, rather for new experiences and perspectives. If you were lucky enough to have swiped right into a conversation with Cuomo, you just may have made your way onto the latest album. Cuomo didn’t end up meeting anyone in person, but a few of the texts exchanged through the app were used as lyrics.
Weezer teamed up with producer Jake Sinclair, who, like myself, was just as obsessed with early Weezer. So much so that he used to front a Weezer tribute band appropriately titled Wannabeezer. For this reason, Sinclair may have been the perfect producer to bring back the Blue and Pink that were the magic of Weezer. The White delivers as promised, reminding us just how amazing all that grunged and blissed out distortion and feedback really was. It’s a welcome throw back, and a break from the hip hop dominated, well everything. It’s almost impossible to tell that “(Girl We Got A) Good Thing” was composed and recorded just this past year, and it would be hard to find a music archeologist that would date this past 96′. “Thank God for Girls” sounds kind of like Coconut Records meets Twenty One Pilots, with some Beatles and Elliott Smith, mixed together with some 2016 top 40 influence.
The truth is, I can’t stop listening to the album. Its been on repeat since the first time I gave it a Spotify spin. These songs remind me of cruisin’ in my first car with the windows rolled down and Rivers voice soundtracking my high school days.
If the physical space for the dream of the 90’s is alive in Portland, then the sonic space has never sounded stronger than it does on this White album.