Identity Crisis: Weezer, 'Raditude'

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RIVERS CUOMO IS GETTING OLDER, but his music is pretty much staying the same age.

The Weezer frontman has been known for his wry outlook, reclusive lifestyle and unforgettable melodies, but mostly for embracing his own arrested development. Weezer, even in the members' relatively advanced age, perpetually invokes high school drama, hangin' at the the mall and kickin' in Chuck Taylors with infinite energy and a sense of fun, if ever-diminishing innovation. The Blue Album and "Pinkerton" were full of quintessential awkward rock anthems for kids who would soon find themselves at the center of hipsterdom, but later releases found Weezer still awkward but less eloquent. The band will always hold a unique place in rock, managing to convey a sneering attitude without actually resorting to profanity, but it's hard to say if its newer material will hold the place in the 2009 teenager's heart as it did for '90s kids. Cuomo seems to prefer telling over showing nowadays, proclaiming over-defiantly on last year's Red Album that he doesn't "give a hoot about what you think!" Well, if you say so.

The group's latest, "Raditude" (Geffen Records), is straight-up a pop-rock monster, but none of the tracks scream "Weezer!" even as much as the Red Album's "Pork and Beans" (the video for which is better than the song). The album dithers constantly, managing at times to be both generic and chaotic, and it's not clear whether Cuomo is still trying to discover the secret formula to every kind of pop song, or if he just can't make up his mind.

Dabbling in everything from punk-rock to R&B to straight up Top 40 teeny-bopper bubblegum, Weezer no longer inspires confidence that it is the master of its domain. In a way, the album is great, but only if you don't overthink it.

The cumbersomely titled "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To," the first single, is radio-ready but rather forgettable. "I'm Your Daddy" flirts with inappropriateness but contributes nothing new to the trying-to-impress-a-girl genre: "This ain't impossible / This ain't improbable / You are my baby tonight / And I'm your daddy." "The Girl Got Hot" could be a recent Ben Folds song (and actually, that would make for an awesome duet) but lacks the personality of Folds' piano and relies on over-produced "whoa-ohs" and generic riffs.

From there, "Raditude" vacillates radically between genres that don't quite cohere. "Can't Stop Partying" might just sum up the band's shtick nowadays -- it's either annoying as hell or the best song on the album, but the minor-key chords stick in your head for a month either way. It even sounds a little like an anachronistic '90s cover of a '00s club hit -- the hazy synth and the Lil Wayne solo, especially, make it skew a little Bloodhound Gang. "Love Is the Answer" is absolutely bewildering, and it doesn't help much to know that it's a Sugar Ray cover (Cuomo appeared on that band's recent album "Music for Cougars") -- half the song is a decent ballad, but let's hope Weezer doesn't continue on that particular New Age course.

There's plenty to like about "Raditude," even if it's by-the-book pop like "Tripping Down the Freeway" or nostalgic, not-quite-ironic "In The Mall" (maybe they should have stayed in the garage, where they belong?).

This isn't Weezer at its most mature, or its most juvenile, either. It showcases Cuomo coming out of his shell and communing with new musical perspectives, but while the experimentation refuses to ride the successes of Weezer 1.0, it doesn't have much going for it other than its rote knowledge of rock music.

Written by Express contributor Afton Lorraine Woodward
Photos courtesy Big Hassle Media