Weezer -- Black

7/10

This is a weird album in a weird discography. In 2014 and 2016, Weezer released albums that harkened back to their 90's work. This greatly satisfied long time fans of Weezer, who fell in love with Weezer as a rock band. The period between 2008-2010, where Weezer seemed eager to become popstars must have just been an anomaly then...right? I mean, they apologized for it on 2014's Everything Will Be Alright in the End, right? Back to rocking, right? 2017's Pacific Daydream, full of straightforward modern pop songs, proved that sentiment false. Pacific Daydream doesn't rock much at all, unless you'd say, for instance, that someone like Meghan Trainor rocks. Weezer follows up Pacific Daydream with Black, which seems by title to go back to rocking. Instead, Black finds Weezer following their pop muse even further down the rabbithole...except now, frontman, Rivers Cuomo swears...and as I said in the first sentence, things get weird.
I should say now, I'm as frustrated as anyone that Weezer can make great rock albums in their sleep, but can't do it for more than a few years in a row without getting bored. But...that's Weezer. Even though on a scale of 1 to 10, rock as a genre is at 10 for me, and top-40 radio pop-music is at 1, this is the kind of music River Cuomo seems to want to write sometimes--and I guess I have to judge it on its own merits...not on how I want Weezer to be a live rock band playing guitar solos and drums rolls. Black doesn't have those things. It's a weirdo pop album--and yet, it's tough to exactly say that Weezer "sold out" here. As much as these songs use modern production techniques, the band certainly don't seem to be chasing the radio here the way they were on Pacific Daydream (as solid as Pacific Daydream is). Few radio stations not headquartered on a college campus would play any of Black's ten tracks.

If you want me to quit all this punctuation, by the way, tough nuggets. And if you want the run-ons to stop, you
Now how about I go...track...by...track? 

"Can't Knock the Hustle" is a fun and funky song that I am not even going to pretend like a don't enjoy. It kicks Black off in weird and upbeat, yet strangely dark way, funk bassline, borderline flamenco guitar. If Weezer goes pop, this is the weird way to do it. Next is "Zombie Bastards," a song that immediately catches my attention. It's got the kind of descending chord progression I'm a sucker for. It might seem weird that Cuomo is singing the chorus "Die, die, you zombie bastards/we know what you want/die, die you zombie bastards/keep on 'blah, blah, blah" with so much emotion, it sounds like he is tearing up...until you realize that the song is addressed to Weezer fans. Well, Weezer fans who greet every album with "This doesn't sound like your first two albums." Thus, a song that seems simple and silly suddenly becomes quite angry and defiant, as Rivers explicitly mentions the literal living space and mental condition he was in after he wrote the music those fans want, "If I die, it means I lived my life/and that's much better than hiding in a hole," while also mentioning "that's right/music saved my life." Essentially, he's saying that he's been making all this post-Pinkerton music over the years to follow his own creative muse, which is keeping him going and making him happy, and he couldn't care less if fans are disappointed that he's not writing the kinds of songs he was back right before he lived in a small room underneath a freeway alone, with the walls painted black. For me, who can sometimes be one of those fans, this song is pretty affecting, and an album highlight.

Black continues working, with the gorgeous "High as a Kite," sounding--and I'm not saying this lightly--like a lost Beatles song. It's all piano, chimes, synthesized strings, and flute, with a gorgeous, big chorus melody, and some lovely dynamics. Another album high point...no pun intended. Next is "Living in L.A.," which introduces a dancier, almost disco vibe, but there's a sad darkness underneath that stops the song from falling into tossed off territory, particularly in the soul-searching bridge. So far, even though it's not what I want in genre, Black is working really well.
And this is the point where it starts to nosedive a bit. "Piece of Cake" is one of those "Were you guys serious?" songs. Outside of a few cool harmonies, it sounds like the guy who plays keyboard and sings at the local buffet restaurant during the early bird special. Just lousy. Things pick up again with "I'm Just Being Honest," arguably the most rock song here, though I mean "rock" in the vein of an artist like Pink, not Led Zeppelin. The drums are a machine, and a bunch of weird studio sounds abound, but it's a driving song, with some cool guitar bits, and some seriously dark lyrics from Rivers. "Too Many Thoughts in My Head" keeps the driving (programmed) beat going, with more darker lyrics from Rivers, as he explores the overstimulation of the modern media landscape. Musically, the song has a very retro, West Coast vibe, which is fine.
What's not fine is "The Prince Who Wanted Everything," which sounds like a song not the restaurant guy, but your little brother made on a keyboard. It's not good. Cuomo's repeated "Duh doo dee dit" makes you want to punch him in the face. Of course, as you're pulling your arm back to throw that punch, and "Byzantine" starts, you'll slowly drop it back to your side, as you distractedly say, "What the hell?" Musically, "Byzantine" is some kind of weird, futuristic bossa-nova. Lyrically, it seems to explore a...weird, kinky relationship that's requiring escalating strangeness to keep the passion going. "Put on your red beret/Baby, moonwalk naked across the room/do something kind of unique to me/do something that will make me swoon," Cuomo sings in an almost shockingly tender and emotional voice during the song's melodically memorable chorus. The song is again weirdly sad and strangely affecting, and just so, so weird. Black is a weird album.
"California Snow," I think, is about cocaine, though I don't know--by this point the album's layers of irony, and quasi-darkness that might be hiding an actual darkness, and shiny, possibly smily coating have me so thrown off, I'm not sure. "Come on Judas/give me a kiss/I can't take no more of this" sings Cuomo to I have no idea who, between huge nightlife neon synths and beats, sounding again near tears.
I'm going to be completely honest. In revisiting all of Weezer's albums for these reviews, I have listened to Black more than any other. I just can't figure the damned thing out. I'm not even sure if I like it. I wonder how cheap I could get this thing on vinyl for on Ebay?

Hey, since this first draft, I did get it on vinyl. It's beautiful, and I enjoyed listening to it. I think I do kind of like this. It's so weird!

Hey, I still don't want to stop talking about Black. I also want to praise producer, TV on the Radio's David Sitek, for adding a bunch of weird guitar noises deep into the background of this album, and also, I want to point out the themes that are standing out, as quite obviously, I can't stop listening to this: Overstimulation by modern culture, alienation caused by feelings of desensitization by this overstimulation, and a desire for some sort of real connection through or apart from that. Whatever you think of this album, there's just so much to chew on! I might just change that 6/10 score one day! In fact, I'm doing that right now. Black, you get a 7! ...and I'm going to listen to you again.

I like Weezer!

2019 Atlantic/Crush
1. Can't Knock the Hustle 3:42
2. Zombie Bastards 4:10
3. High as a Kite 3:48
4. Living in L.A.3:38
5. Piece of Cake 3:17
6. I'm Just Being Honest 3:56
7. Too Many Thoughts in My Head 4:03
8. The Prince Who Wanted Everything 3:23
9. Byzantine 4:09
10. California Snow 3:34