Weezer
(DGC-UMe)
The format of their recent Memories Tour said it all: there are only two albums in the Weezer canon worth celebrating--their 1994 eponymous debut so lovingly dubbed The Blue Album and its indelible 1996 follow-up Pinkerton.
Yes, folks, its official: given the deflated premise of the band's, what, fifth consecutive creative misstep in their otherwise anticipated Epitaph debut Hurley, it seems as though Rivers Cuomo and the boys are virtually incapable of releasing a work on par with the timelessness of their early pair of aces, the latter of which we finally get to see its long-awaited deluxe edition after months of speculation and rumors of its existence. And boy is it a beaut--one that does great justice to the relentless power pop pulchritude of Pinkerton, considered a commercial and critical flop upon its initial release but has since grown a formidable cult following in its 15 years on record store shelves thanks to its unintended reputation as one of the roots of American emo.
Never before or even since has there been a modern rock album that struck the perfect balance of silliness, sarcasm and sincerity like Pinkerton, the group's final album with bassist and co-songwriter Matt Sharp, who went on to form new wave revivalists The Rentals (who should have put out as many records as Weezer has in the last ten years) and never looked back as the band seemed to crumble creatively in the wake of his absence. It's hard to find an LP that inspires you to sing all ten of its tracks enthusiastically from the glass-enclosed solitude of your car, but the California quartet's amped-up formula of death metal drop tunings and beyond-infectious pop hooks--enhanced further on Pinkerton into darker, more spontaneous territory by the recording work of renowned producer Dave Fridmann--leave you no other choice but to emote along to insanely catchy ditties like "Getchoo", "Why Bother?", "The Good Life" and "Falling For You". Anyone who ever had their heart served to them on a dirty ashtray will fully jibe with this conceptualized song cycle revolving around Cuomo's nebbish, susceptible views on sex, relationships and the pain that comes when confusing the two entities. Fleeting, fevered thoughts rush through the veins of the story's tortured anti-hero as he pines for a barely legal Japanese fan on "Across The Sea", harbors the hots for a lesbian who wants nothing to do with him on "Pink Triangle", ventures into Lloyd Dobler territory on "El Scorcho" and ultimately wallows in a pool of neuropsychological Jello on the gorgeous closing ballad "Butterfly".
This beautiful deluxe edition of Pinkerton expands the original LP by 25 tracks, including all of the album's b-sides, live performances from a variety of festivals, in-stores and radio session broadcasts throughout 1996 into 1997, tracking roughs, alternate takes and a few newly discovered gems that have never been released in any way shape or form until now, including the gorgeous "Tragic Girl"--a song as good as anything off the main LP--and its equally rare b-side "I Swear It's True" and a demo of "You Won't Get With Me Tonight", a song originally conceived for a rock opera Cuomo had been writing at the time. Also of note are the group's acoustic "Sonic Sessions" for Philadelphia's Y100, where quieted renditions of "The Good Life", "El Scorcho" and "Pink Triangle" are just as effective unplugged as they are in their full electric glory, as well as the pretty, previously unreleased piano-based cut "Long Time Sunshine", which finds Cuomo in a Todd Rundgren mode we can only hope he will rediscover at some point in our lifetime.
Unless the band makes nice with Matt Sharp and gets him back into the fold, which doesn't look like is gonna happen anytime soon, there isn't much of a chance Weezer will be releasing a new album of material as emotionally invigorating as the songs of Pinkerton, making this long-overdue revamp of this embattled 90s masterpiece a must-have for fans who still can't seem to get the shitty aftertaste of Raditude out of their mouths.
DOWNLOAD: "Getchoo", "Why Bother", "The Good Life", "El Scorcho", "Pink Triangle (Live and Acoustic)", "You Won't Get With Me Tonight", "Butterfly (Alternate Take)" RON HART
