Weezer are done with the colours, and now we are on to chasing precious metals. Either the band wants to represent how obnoxiously money-hungry the world looks or they’re symbolising a golden anniversary with this album (it’s not this). There are two legions of Weezer fans in this world: The entire Pinkerton cult and the rest, who appreciate the colour albums as well as all the experimental projects River Cuomo has tried through the years. Labelled as “the angriest album they’ve done”. Weezer are back with their self-titled gold album.
Your intro to Weezer
Many people forget how crazily prolific this band is. They have churned out albums every few years. All of them have different themes without losing their characteristic style of being self-deprecating, clever lyrically, and reliably fun college rock. It’s a label that Weezer have tried to fight off for several years, but to be honest, they really couldn’t care. They’ve been MTV stars, had a hiatus, and returned with a brand-new colour and a new set of fans as well. Like many, my first interaction with Weezer was when they appeared on the late-night show when Conan was hosting. Of course the band knows how to take themselves lightly. They are named after Cuomo’s nickname he got when he was bullied as a kid due to asthma.
The album starts with “Say Yes,” a warm, fun ballad that is the signature Colour album style. Cuomo’s voice still sounds like he is 20, just like all those decades ago. Like every Weezer track you have liked, you build with a sweet emotive verse section that crashes into a chorus with explosive energy. This is the alt-rock formula that this band has pretty much done a doctorate on. It’s a great cue to opening the album as well as setting the tone for the songs that have to come. It definitely revolves around the SZNZ years, tying back to the closest reference point we have.
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A new composer in the band?
It’s weird to say this, but I’ve always wondered what the other band members sounded like. That’s not a doubt anymore because this song is written entirely by Patrick Wilson. It’s one of the first Weezer songs that doesn’t have creative control by Rivers Cuomo. The structure of “Shine Again” is very different as well. It’s actually the first single that was released from the album on April 1, 2026. There’s a harder rock texture here, and it all comes together decently well. It is a bit of a jarring difference after Cuomo’s style that you are so used to. Even the chorus vocals aren’t something you’re used to and that, in this case, is a good thing.
In case you’re wondering, “How do I stay in touch with Weezer?” the answer is quite simple: Discord. Though Weezer has had their entire “I hate being famous” phase, Rivers has been known to be chronically active on Discord. After a week or so of drums being recorded in LA, all the rest has been done in Stockholm. The production is definitely stronger, not the bubbly pop-rock themes you used to hear in the Colour albums. Owing to the somewhat darker heavier sound, the lean is definitely into punchier percussion parts and getting the most out of the distorted guitar crunch.
Creating a different vibe of sorts
I thought I’d played a Skillet song by mistake when “Don’t Make It Weird” appeared with the bouncing bass drum and chugging riff coming in. You would assume that at some point Rivers Cuomo is going to come out screaming at the top of his lungs. The last thing I expected was Cuomo rapping and talking about his flow in a very self-aware nugget of a moment. We are also treading into extremely new territory, with Weezer actually collaborating for the first time in a long time with Wednesday in “We Might as Well Be Strangers”.
The movie on the way
As we have seen it happening before, the music videos for “We Might as Well Be Strangers” and “C.E.O.” are fun and direct and don’t shy away from taking a dump on people who know nothing about music and still make the so-called creative choices. Where a natural miss occurs is in how the songs start following a predictable pattern of building to a peak, to the chorus, and then dropping back down. There’s a reason why The Pinkerton Sessions will always haunt Weezer all the way to the end. They showed us that it’s possible they can have divisive, diverse thoughts with a lot of unique self-expression. 30 years later you want them to redefine alt rock for a generation who hasn’t spent a lot of time with it.
At a time when a lot of music sounds algorithmic because of AI tools being so accessible and flooding the music industry at large, you would expect Weezer to have a very distinct opinion and sound regarding it. There are select tracks from this album that sound good, but nothing really screams gold on this album. After a 4-year hiatus, probably we all expected much more from the kings of radio play. Give us something more to nerd out about:
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