Keep Fishin’
‘Raditude’
Weezer
Sounds like: Fountains of Wayne, The Rentals (former Weezer bass player Matt Sharp’s band), Cake, Ozma
Decibels: 80/100
With an album title that defies the rule of language and fuses two words together (radical and attitude), Weezer’s seventh album mixes the band’s traditional alterna-rock tracks with slower-tempo songs. The band draws influences from its older sounds and new, genre-barrier-breaking ones, including a touch of R&B.
Unfortunately for Weezer fans everywhere, the making of the album was a bigger undertaking than the result. While a good majority of the tracks are worth adding to your iTunes library, the CD, in its entirety, isn’t.
To shake up the track list with a little bit of R&B, Lil Wayne and Autotune infiltrated the alternative music on ‘Can’t Stop Partying.’ The song gives off a vibe reminiscent of Timbaland’s ‘The Way I Are,’ in the background beats. Lil Wayne is pretty predictable and far from modest, calling himself ‘an endangered species.’ This song will take a while to grow on you, but it’s worth a listen because it’s funny to picture Rivers Cuomo with the ‘real big posse.’
‘Love is the Answer’ has a hint of Indian flavor, from the background music to the accompanying vocals by Amrita Sen, who performed ‘Slumdog Millionaire’s’ ‘Jai Ho’ with AR Rahman at the 2009 Academy Awards.
‘(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To’ is a perfect blend of the charm of a computer geek in love with upbeat alternative rock that fans expect from Weezer. It’s a track worthy of rolling down the windows to and blasting until the speakers blow out.
Unfortunately, this isn’t a track list to shuffle around. ‘Can’t Stop Partying’ is a slight musical letdown, and ‘Put Me Back Together’ is too whiny, too emotional and too lyrically uninspired.
Since Weezer’s formation in 1992, the nerd rockers have seen their music, and the world, change through thickly rimmed glasses.
Front man Cuomo became a daddy, making it ironic that the track ‘I’m Your Daddy’ has nothing to do with becoming a father, but is instead about discovering the power of meditation. The band lost bassist Matt Sharp, and then witnessed a mental breakdown from second bassist Mikey Welsh (who current member Scott Shriner replaced).
The band’s previous singles have drawn inspiration from ’50s rock ‘n’ roll legend (‘Buddy Holly’), the capital of superficiality (‘Beverly Hills’) and YouTube sensations (‘Pork and Beans’), yet this time they look to friendly canines for inspiration. Deviating from color-themed albums, Weezer’s new cover art is man’s best friend.
This Los Angeles-based band’s newest release isn’t quite on par with the musical level of past endeavors like ‘The Blue Album,’ but it’s a whole lot better than the flop album ‘Make Believe.’
Weezer’s ‘Raditude’ will be released Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Published on October 26, 2009 at 12:00 pm
