Weezer -- OK Human

10/10

Having heavily listened to Weezer's entire back-catalogue all the way up to this point throughout this past month (wow, "heavy listening" sounds a bit pervy), something has become clear to me: Weezer go into the studio with one of two missions, regardless of which genre in which they're working::
1. Let's make the best album we possibly can.
2. Let's see what kind of album we can make.
I'll clarify that inanity with an example. On say, Everything Will Be Alright In the End, the band clearly went into the studio saying "Let's make the best possible album we can in the style of our other music." On say, Red, the band clearly went into the studio saying, "Let's try out a bunch of different things and see what we come out with." The first example doesn't exclude experimentation, or changes in genre. It just means that the goal is to create the best end product possible, within whatever paremeters the band are setting. OK Human, recorded to analogue tape, exclusively features piano and a 38-piece orchestra, along with bass, drums,acoustic guitar accents, and Rivers Cuomo's everlasting voice. Clearly, this baroque pop setup isn't the Weezer norm. Weezer have literally never done anything like this before. However, instead of experimenting just for the sake of experimenting, the band use this format in order to create the best possible album they can. And they just might have succeeded in that mission.
Now, I am not saying that OK Human is the best album Weezer have ever recorded, but this is absolutely top tier Weezer.
First of all, the music here absolutely phenomenal. The strings, woodwinds, and brass are expertly arranged, not just augmenting the songs, but a key aspect of each. The songs themselves are also phenomenal, featuring some of the best songwriting of Cuomo's career. Eschewing the outside co-writer mentality he followed through most of the 10's, Cuomo wrote all but one of these songs himself. They're some of the most personal songs he's written, essentially detailing a day in his life, what he's doing, his thoughts, joys, and fears.
Because of not only this, but the stylistic choices, OK Human feels incredibly intimate, in a way an intentional polar opposite, and yet sibling of the band's previous album, Black. Black is musically messy, intentionally nightmarish pop music. It is an approximation of modern day noise, and Cuomo's attempts at intimacy, or even hearing through that noise. OK Human is a clear-headed look at those same things, and finds that intimacy Rivers was searching for in the mundane: routine dates with his wife ("Aloo Gobi"), listening to a classic audiobook in the middle of the night when he can't sleep ("Playing My Piano"), and skipping out on zoom interviews to play his piano ("Playing My Piano"). At the same time, Cuomo's thoughts frequently turn toward Black's subject matter, as he laments humanity's obsession with their phones and social media ("Screens"), as well as his own obsolescence ("Bird with a Broken Wing" and "La Brea Tar Pits").
All the while, this feels like the musical equivalent of hanging out in a garden home with Cuomo as he goes about his morning routine, then walking around the city with him on a nice breezy day. It's a singular experience in Weezer's massive catalogue, and not one to be missed by long-time, casual, or even non-fans of the band. In totality, OK Human feels like 30-minutes of human genius.
Great credit must also be given to Jake Sinclair. Sinclair has now produced two Weezer albums (he also did 2016's White), and they're two of the best of the band's career--truly, Sinclair, a fan of the band first, brings out the best in them. He's Ric Ocasek's natural successor behind the board for Weezer. Here's hoping they employ him as much as possible in the future.


2021 Atlantic/Crush
1. All My Favorite Songs 3:22
2. Aloo Gobi 3:03
3. Grapes of Wrath 2:50
4. Numbers 3:20
5. Playing My Piano 2:36
6. Mirror Image 1:17
7. Screens 2:11
8. Bird with a Broken Wing 3:51
9. Dead Roses 2:17
10. Everything Happens for a Reason 0:23
11. Here Comes the Rain 2:27
12. La Brea Tar Pits 2:50