The Bay Area Native

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By Alex Waage

The turritopsis nutricula is a genus of jellyfish that has been proclaimed by the experts to be “immortal”. It achieves its seemingly perpetual existence by riding a life cycle in which it grows to maturity, shrinks down to a polyp, and then burgeons back into adulthood only to revert to the start of the cycle again and again and so on and so forth.

Like the immortal jellyfish, Weezer seem to have been on the alternative rock scene forever, fluctuating between being a band capable of brilliance and being a band capable of making a great punch line. After the release of their self-titled 1994 debut and their sophomore album, the cult-classic Pinkerton, Weezer became wedged between a proverbial rock and hard place. While The Green Album, Maladroit and Make Believe were too bland and uninspired, The Red Album and Raditude were too bold for their own good, experimenting wildly with styles untouched by the band and resulting in some of the lowest points in their career. With each album, Rivers Cuomo and company were trying their hand at the futile balancing act of appeasing calloused critics, a cynical fan base, the general public, and themselves. However, it seems that the unabashedly nerdy quartet has come as close as possible to achieving such a feat with their newest record, Hurley.

While a pleasant surprise for die-hard fans and casual observers alike, Hurley is anything but a return to form for the band. It serves more as a summation of their career, flaunting the band’s strengths while blending in the kind of sonic curve balls that have baffled the masses for the past decade, albeit in a way far more successful than before. Throughout the ten tracks that make up the album, a plethora of sounds are tinkered with, but never once do they feel forced. The result is a surprisingly cohesive album that recalls moments and textures from the Weezer back catalogue. Songs like “Smart Girls” and “Ruling Me” are chugging pop sing-alongs in the vein of The Green Album while “Run Away” and “Hang On” are reminiscent of Make Believe-era balladry. Even the meat-headed riffs featured on “Where’s My Sex?” and “Brave New World” are not unlike those on Maladroit.

Despite the vague likenesses that they bear to songs from Weezer’s past, the tunes on Hurley are far better than their predecessors on the aforementioned albums. For instance, “Hang On” is a poppy ballad, but that in no way prevents the band from experimenting with the instrumentation featured within. In fact, Michael Cera of Arrested Development and Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World plays mandolin on the track.

This is not to say that the entire album is as perfect and inspired as one might hope. Sprinkled throughout the album are awkwardly constructed couplets like “And if you take this away from me/I’ll never forgive you can’t you see” from the otherwise-brilliant “Unspoken”. Still, no song is as lyrically insipid as “Where’s My Sex?”. The song is the album’s undeniable low point in every way and its awkwardly placed bridge certainly doesn’t help. Seriously, it’s completely shoehorned in.

Listening to Hurley again, I feel about as satisfied as a Weezer fan can expect to feel. Rivers, Pat, Brian, and Scott are finally heading in a creative direction that feels natural and appropriate for the band at this point. It’s no Pinkerton, but Hurley is a quirky, imaginative record that the band can be truly proud of. Fans of the band can expect even more solid music in the future, considering that November sees the release of the two-disc Pinkerton: Deluxe Edition and Death To False Metal, a compilation of unheard and unreleased songs from the band’s recording history. With Hurley released and these gems on the way, 2010 is a good year to be a Weezer fan.