Tag: Weezer

Don’t panic! The mainstream didn’t forget power pop.

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In general, mainstream artists don’t always consider themselves in the power pop genre, but last year these artists made us proud. If you missed these albums check them out, my favorite mainstream albums of 2022…

Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello “The Boy Named If”

I did a full review of this album earlier in the year. It is a magnificent comeback for Elvis after years of experimentation with Jazz, Spanish translations, and other things. Each track shines and he hasn’t sounded this good in years. No highlights – listen to the entire album from beginning to end and soak it in.| Amazon

Panic! At The Disco

Panic! At The Disco “Viva Las Vengeance”

Ever since 2008’s Pretty. Odd. singer Brendon Urie’s charismatic, cross-pollinated brand of pop moved away from his emo roots toward something resembling power pop, as that album was Beatles-influenced. But Viva Las Vengeance, produced by power-pop fave Mike Viola, was a love letter to glam, rock, and power-pop. Highlights: “Middle Of A Breakup,” “Local God,” and ” Sugar Soaker.” Highly recommended. | Amazon

Collective Soul

Collective Soul “Vibrating”

The band has become a rock and roll institution, 30 years after the hit single “Shine” and it continues to roll on with this new collection of music. Ed Roland and the guys have laid down another solid album. One of the rare touring bands that offer new music on par with their established hits, at least for the album’s first half. Highlights: “Cut The Cord,” “Reason,” and “All Our Pieces.”  Full review here | Amazon

Collective Soul

Weezer “SZNZ”

A new EP has been released at the dawn of each season of 2022, and it totals 28 tracks when it’s all done. Rivers Cuomo is a unique talent who is both amazing and frustrating in equal measure. A fitting coda is “Iambic Pentameter” where even though he doesn’t know what’s in his “messed-up head” it still sounds great.  Like most post-Hurley Weezer, there are enough diamonds to be found once you dig deep, past the musical sketch fluff. Highlights: “Dark Enough To See Stars,” “Francesca,” “A Little Bit of Love,” and “Records”  are starting points. | Amazon

Weezer and KiDD

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Weezer

Weezer “Black Album”

Weezer had been pegged as one of the last commercially successful power pop bands, but Rivers Cuomo is not one to play it safe. As fast as he rediscovered his power-pop roots on  Everything Will Be All Right in the End and The White Album, he has drifted into distractions with an album of cover tunes (The Teal Album) and with The Black Album, he’s once again pushing against his fan base. Cuomo just wants to get your attention, even if it pisses you off. So if you’re expecting another “Pork and Beans” skip this one.

But interestingly enough, the album is pretty decent.  The lead track, “Can’t Knock the Hustle,” is classic pop songwriting with some faux Spanish flavoring, the chorus “Hasta luego, Adios” will stick in your brain for days.  The highlight here is the earnest “High As a Kite” whose video is a parody of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.  A few additional standouts include “Piece of Cake,” “Byzantine,” and the T-Rex influenced “The Prince Who Wanted Everything.” But you will suffer through electro-dance pop like “California Snow” and “Living In L.A.” Hardcore fans will definitely want to get this, but others will feel better with the earlier material.

Amazon

KiDD

KiDD “Chance Weekend”

Scottish bedroom-pop singer-songwriter KiDD is back. As part of several bands (The Wellgreen and Doctor Cosmo’s Tape Lab), he’s had a distinctive Nilsson meets Kinks influence on past works. With Chance Weekend, he gets more organic and sober with the downbeat opener “A Picture I Don’t Want To Paint.” He gets a little more optimistic on “Little One” and “Forget Me Not” with its soft-shoe beat, kazoo, and banjo accompaniment.

KiDD still has an eye toward simple compelling melodies, from the gentle folk tune “Tomorrow Sky” or the acoustic “Crazy George” with a myriad of effects against a sparse chorus. The catchy “Like A Bullet” sounds like an early Paul Simon hit, and another standout is the psyche-pop gem “Where Have They Gone.” In some respects, it feels like a collection of demos — but occasionally we get some gold. Check it out!

Amazon

Arvidson & Butterflies and Weezer

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Edward Rogers

Arvidson & Butterflies “Arvidson & Butterflies”

A big thanks to Wayne “The Ice Cream Man” Ford, a power pop blogger/radio DJ who helped bring Swedish power pop musician Roger Arvidson to my attention. Backed by a first rate band known as The Butterflies, its full of jangling Rickenbackers and uplifting themes. Fans of Joe Algeri’s work (The Jangle Band, Britannicas, and The JAC) will feel at home with this album. Starting with“Tired Of Running,” it has that Byrdsian layered rhythms and echoing vocals sure to please.

The album follows this formula, as each song is crisp and inviting and but especially good “Changing All The Time” has a little more weight reminding me of Tom Petty. No filler here, although “Change The World” gets a little preachy with its mantra. Roger even gets a little wild on “Alright” with its head shaking tempo. Another big thanks to Kool Kat Musik for releasing this highly recommended album.

Kool Kat Musik | Amazon (EP only)


Weezer

Weezer “The White Album”

When the band decided to “come back to the shack” on Everything Will Be All Right in the End it appeared Rivers Cuomo had embraced Weezer’s glorious past. So on this newest self titled LP known as “The White Album” Rivers teams up with Dan Wilson (Semisonic) on the opening track “California Kids.” But as an opener it feels like a overproduced throwaway track, with its “ooh-wee-ooh” backing and familiar structure we’ve heard before, almost like a Weezer cover band. The melody on the piano of “Wind in Our Sail” is much better, and the chiming “(Girl We Got A) Good Thing” is a real winner with its joyful chorus and solid guitar break. Whew! Weezer is back.

However we still get lyrical weirdness of “Thank God For Girls,” a male rant/rap that pokes at gender fears and offers absurd analogies without much melody. Also “Do You Wanna Get High?” painfully tries to re-create the era of Blue Album – it almost works, but its Rivers love letter to his wife Kyoto “King of the World,” that feels closest to the “old” Weezer in terms of style. “Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori” continues this nostalgic trip. The good news is that the band still sounds great and makes an effort to tell stories that tie together, and it succeeds for the most part. Even with a few duds, this is the Weezer you know and love. Highly Recommended.

Amazon

Weezer and Rob Fetters

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Weezer

Weezer “Everything Will Be Alright In The End”

A few major label acts fall into the “power pop” category, and fewer have the longevity of Weezer. Rivers Cuomo has really come back to his roots and even got his old producer Ric Ocasek to help bring the magic back. In a major turnaround, Rivers waves goodbye to the dance-rock of 2009’s Raditude for good. He explains himself on “Back to the Shack,” that “thought I’d get a new audience, I forgot that disco sucks” and even the guitar licks refer back to the bands “Blue” debut.

“Eulogy for A Rock Band” tells us that Weezer accepts its role in the rock universe, and to cement this gives us the crunchy singles “Lonely Girl,” “The British Are Coming,” “Cleopatra,” and “Go Away.” The band still goes off on a tangent with its’ closing suite “The Futurescope Trilogy,” but there are more hooks than a tacklebox on the songs preceding it. Highly Recommended, especially if you haven’t heard any Weezer since 2001.

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Amazon

Rob Fetters

Rob Fetters “Saint Ain’t”

I really enjoyed discovering Cincinnati musician Rob Fetters (Thanks Carl Chavis!) Recorded in Nashville with a pile of guest stars like Matt Malley (Counting Crows), Belinda Lipscomb (Midnight Star), and Clyde Brown (The Drifters, Ben E. King) to name a few. “Suffer” is a catchy rock gem that will get you hooked. “Nero” is plaintive light pop composition with a great hook about infamy, “who says I can’t last forever?” he says. His sound is similar to Tom Petty, Todd Rundgren or Ian Hunter.

Solid songs all along here, “Desire” and “Forever Never” are very enjoyable, but the collaborations are so stylistically different it’s jarring. The light folky “Famous Last Words” a collaboration with Bee Haskins is the polar opposite of the blues-rock on “Life and Death Boogie” with Clyde Brown. Honestly, Fetters is so good he didn’t need these duets here to fill the running time. “Walking Out” is another gem with excellent guitar work that closes out the album. Highly Recommended.
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