It was about time I did a rendition of Sensational Debuts covering an album from the nineties. I’m a very big fan of the alternative rock from this period: artists such as Blur, Radiohead, and Smashing Pumpkins are some of the most significant artists that have shaped my musical palette.
It’s no secret that the occidental music scene in the early nineties was shaped by bands such as Nirvana. Grunge breathed new life to guitar driven pop rock that was largely drowned out by synth pop and new wave that dominated the eighties. Artists such as The Smiths, Sonic Youth, and The Pixies were the only substantial bastions of such music - bands who later inspired the alternative rock gods of the nineties that I’ve aforementioned.
But Kurt Cobain & co. led the boom of grunge in the early nineties, shaping and exemplifying the slacker nihilism that characterises Gen X. When Cobain committed suicide in April 1994, the pop scene lost a massive star and there was a huge vacuum in the popular music consciousness. Soundgarden filled some of it by releasing their opus Superunknown a month prior to Cobain’s death, but it carried the same depressive, listless vibe that many felt was perfected by the more celebrated band from Seattle with Nevermind despite its major musical successes. No: the vacuum had to be filled with something very different, I dare say antithetical to the spirit of Grunge’s big four. Enter Weezer.
A band named after the nickname lead vocalist and songwriter Rivers Cuomo’s father gave him, Weezer was the perfect antidote to the chaos that the death of Cobain left the alt rock music scene in. Although the Britpop acts carried different and (perhaps) more hopeful sentiments in their music, they were still reacting to the alternative scene in America that Nirvana epitomised. Weezer, when they debuted 30 years today, provided a fresh, personal take on the genre. Inspired heavily by sixties bands such as The Beach Boys and The Who during their hitmaking era, Cuomo, Patrick Wilson (drummer), Brian Bell (lead guitarist), and Matt Sharp (bass) produced a project that’s sunny, melodic, and uncompromisingly nerdy.
Weezer’s debut album is the perfect example of the great album: an LP with a handful of great songs and no bad songs. I will say that the band did a great job in deciding the singles: ‘Buddy Holly’, ‘Undone’, and ‘Say It Ain’t So’ are the most evocative, most complete tracks on the project.
But it’s not to say that there aren’t any exciting deep cuts to be found here: ‘My Name Is Jonas’ opens the album beautifully and we really understand what we’re in for. The song has a wonderful acoustic guitar intro that transitions to the thick wall of guitar sound that I love from bands such as The Smashing Pumpkins. A song about Cuomo’s brother being in a car crash has cute, personal lyrics that epitomise Cuomo’s writing at its best, and the beach boys inspired, iambic pentameter melodicism is found here unmistakeably.
The first five songs on Weezer are probably the best/my favourite on the album. ‘No One Else’ is a very fun and ridiculous portrayal of the jealous boyfriend, whilst ‘The World Has Turned And Left Me Here’ is so delightful: it’s such a summer song despite the depressing situation of a man losing his woman is being depicted - the harmonies that come together at the outro are exceptional.
I would say I really appreciate how the band really take the best from their imajor influences. The aggression, intensity in the music was The Who’s best asset at their peak, and everybody familiar with The Beach Boys understand that their melodies and harmonies are what made them iconic.
‘Buddy Holly’’s opening line “what’s with these homies dissing my girl” is unironically one of the most iconic opening lines in alt-rock history. I think the track speaks for itself: we’ve all seen the Happy Days-inspired music video. ‘Undone’ uses a great metaphor to describe the fear of social rejection and the embarrassment inherently tied to it. It doesn’t have a bad music video either.
‘Say It Ain’t So’ would be the obvious standout of the second half of the album. It’s the closest to a ballad found of this project, and it’s a very good one at that with a rousing chorus despite a song chronicling the abusive household that Cuomo grew up in. However, I’m more impressed by songs such as ‘In The Garage’ and, the closer, ‘Only In Dreams’.
‘In The Garage’ has Cuomo unashamedly describing his love for the action figures found in his garage that reflect his musical heroes. The use of harmonica is very good on this track, and the way the melody resolves at the end of the chorus, especially by the end of the song, is very cool.
The closer though, ‘Only In Dreams’, is the band aiming for the stars musically. An ambitious effort, the eight minute epic is about the reality of the nerd never getting the girl, which is ironic given that Cuomo practised celibacy after the success of the LP for two years before the release of their sophomore album Pinkerton (is that a potential Sophomore Slump article?).
The track has the grandeur of a progressive rock song from the seventies yet the sixties pop harmonies and urgency remain with the nerdy, self-aware alt rock twist on top. It’s a very good song, and it closes out the album on an apt note.
As I’ve hinted at, the album was a major success - it was so successful that Cuomo and the rest of the band’s life turned upside down (few could’ve anticipated the market for nerdy alt-rock). Cuomo decided to up the ante with their band’s next LP: he wanted to produce a rock opera to assauge his unfortunate (and illegitimate) inferiority complex regarding his musical capabilities but to no avail. So the result was Pinkerton, an album that paved the way for the EMO rock of the 2000s.
Pinkerton splits public opinion to this day, but what is certain is that Weezer announced themselves to the world in sensational fashion. It’s definitely an album for your summer playlist.
the unbeatable weez