Weezer
(DGC/Interscope)
Do you ever wonder if Rivers Cuomo is putting us on? That everything he's done these past 10 years has been some sort of twisted inside joke he's playing on the faithful? That the proper follow-ups to Pinkerton are sitting on a shelf somewhere while he's selling us Snuggies and serving up the "Pork and Beans?"
It's not that Raditude is awful like the last Weezer record, 2008's Weezer (a/k/a Red Album). The opening track/leadoff single, "If You're Wondering If I Want You To (I Want You To)" sounds like the Violent Femmes as bigger Buddy Holly fans, and the lyrics are cute enough to help you through the sense that this is not their finest hour: "The rest of the summer was the best we ever had. We watched Titanic and it didn't make us sad. I took you to Best Buy, you took me home to meet your mom and dad." And "The Girl Got Hot" is a glam-rocking hoot about a girl named Kiki Dee who doesn't seem to be the Kiki Dee we know and love.
But Rivers is a long way off from "Buddy Holly." And that's when he sounds like he's not really trying. It's worse when he sounds like he is, especially "Love is the Answer," the most compelling argument against trying to sound like the Beatles ever - or at least since Their Satanic Majesties Request, which is saying a lot.
Standout Tracks: "If You're Wondering If I Want You To (I Want You To)," "The Girl Got Hot." A. WATT
