Weezer’s 10th studio album and fourth self-titled album, dubbed the “White Album” and released April 2, starts and ends with beachy sounds while keeping with the beachy tone throughout.
From the very start, it sounds like a collection of songs made by some garage-rocking surfer kids, though that tone may fluctuate some throughout the album with some pop punk and sweet ballad-y sounds thrown in. Fans of the “Blue Album” will probably be fans of the “White Album,” as this new one retains a lot of their earlier sound without sounding too repetitive. It’s been long enough since the “Blue Album” that it feels fresh and just plain good instead of sounding like the same old sound.
“California Kids” was a good way to start the album. It sets the scene for that lost surfer-kid vibe, with frontman Rivers Cuomo singing about a kid moving from Boston and finding a new home in California. Songs like this, “Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori” and “L.A. Girlz” remind fans that the band can still sound like those kids from the ‘90s who made us love garage rock in the first place.
Weezer still relies on their catchiness and fun rhymes to make good music. They rarely leave us wondering what the name of the song is. The lyrical references are still kind of weird (like in “Thank God for Girls” and “L.A. Girlz”) and the rhymes are still fairly simple, but it’s so Weezer that it comes off as lovable.
Clocking in at 34 minutes and 10 songs, it’s a good length if you just want to listen to something fun. For this sound, the length is perfect. There have been a total of three singles released for this album, with two released in 2015 and one in 2016. Two other songs were previewed in early 2016. “King of the World” is proving to be the most popular song so far, but I think that “L.A. Girlz,” with its perfect mix of yearning and garage-rocking, will make a run for one of the top songs.
If you like the more intense songs, listen to “Thank God for Girls.” It has a darker, more pop punk sound while not being a dark song overall. It’s exactly the kind of song that it says it is: Cuomo is really, really thankful that girls exist. “Do You Wanna Get High?” has a really satisfying driving guitar line, and “Jacked Up” starts to bring the album’s mood down after “L.A. Girlz” to end it on a downer in the sad and more acoustic “Endless Bummer.”
The album has high points and not-as-high points, too. It was a solid album for Weezer, allowing us to listen for that same kind of sound from the band’s earlier days. You’ll probably be satisfied, but by the time the album is over, you’ll want to hit play on the “Blue Album” again.
**MOVE gives “White Album” 3.5 out of 5 stars**
_Edited by Katherine Rosso | krosso@themaneater.com_
