(Credits: Far Out / DGC Records)
Being haunted by a one-hit wonder is a curse no one wants. Weezer are far from that reality, but to all intents and purposes, the outside world views them as just that.
The roaring success of their debut, The Blue Album, in 1994 instantly set them on a pedestal for everything they would come to be known for. Of course, that was undeniably a useful tool for a short while, but more than three decades down the line from that, when their greatest enduring legacy is still the nasally, geeky tones of ‘Say It Ain’t So’, it must wear a little thin.
It spoke volumes about the music industry and wider audience perception of the band that, whenever they tried to branch off and do something even a little different, they were immediately shot down in flames for it. Take their second album, Pinkerton, as the prime example, released only two years after the first, but with a completely alternate sound, and the jury was quickly out.
In this sense, Weezer have more or less faced an uphill battle ever since. There have, of course, been the occasional golden glimpses along the way, but on the whole, the band have been largely restricted to the status of a cult following and a dose of ‘90s novelty nostalgia to everyone else. They’ve drawn a bit of a short straw on that one.
Much like any band with a certain kind of reputation, true fans know there is a definite distinction between this perception and the reality of the music that the band actually creates, and it isn’t lost on those up on stage, either. Frontman Rivers Cuomo isn’t necessarily averse to it, but he certainly knows what challenges his group are up against in that context.
“There is definitely a lot of conflict, especially when we first broke through,” he explained in a recent podcast appearance. He added: “I think our core fans know that there is a lot more to us than the quirky image, and whether it’s the emotional catharsis of Pinkerton or the eight-minute guitar shreddage on ‘Only in Dreams’ on the first album, it’s like they know there’s a ton of emotional depth there.”
In a way, this notoriety of being the underdog and slightly misunderstood through the scores of rock and indie offerings that are out there is something which makes Weezer unique in itself. As Cuomo put it himself, “As long as we have that connection with that audience, I feel pretty satisfied.”
If Weezer are only known in most circles with The Blue Album, and maybe ‘Island in the Sun’ at best, then perhaps that is all they can do. Of course, it’s a sad indictment when the masses turn up their noses whenever a band does something new, but the reality is that they have never made music to please those people. The real fans are all that matters.
Maybe lessons could be taken out of Cuomo’s book by a lot of other artists, not constantly pedalling in the search for the next big hit, but simply being content with what they already have in front of them. It goes without saying that Weezer are not the same band as they were 30 years ago, but the ‘90s nostalgia will forever live rent-free in some heads. You know what? Just let them carry on.
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