WEEZER - Raditude
WEEZER - Raditude
Written by Luke Oram   
Sunday, 27 December 2009 15:08
Weezer - Raditude As one of the many proud teens of the 90’s who had their first angst-ridden pash to ‘Say It Ain’t So’, it would be fair to say that these Californian geek-rockers will always be a vital epitome of my adolescence... almost as vital as my deadly combination of corduroy pants and puffer vests, for which I am also indebted to said Californians.

Although the angst-ridden pashes may have dried-up, WEEZER’s brilliant blend of heart-on-your-sleeve power-pop has continued to flow like the open pages of vocalist Rivers Cuomo’s diary. There was the difficult sophomore album 'Pinkerton' - the unexpected sidewinder into the dark caverns of lost love and depression, then the woefully early hiatus, followed by four albums ('Green Album', 'Maladroit', 'Red Album', 'Make Believe') that swung like a bipolar nerd’s revenge; from cynical heartbroke woe (‘O Girlfriend’, ‘This Is Such A Pity’) to some of the best jams of assorted summers (‘Hash Pipe’, ‘Keep Fishin’’, ‘Dope Nose’, ‘Beverly Hills’, ‘Pork And Beans’).
2009’s 'Raditude' isn’t so much a return to form as a development on Weezer’s perfect formula; a balance between party, pity and parody. The band’s 2008 ‘Hootenanny Tour’, which saw the band hand their instruments over to the crowd in favour of a musical free-for-all with their fans, had a big part to play in tipping the scales well in favour of Party on 'Raditude'.

Opener ‘(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To’ is a rollicking hillbilly swing full of hand-claps and a pool-side Hey Mickey breakdown. ‘I’m Your Daddy’ is a classic Weezer anthem of fuzzed-out guitars and Cuomo’s goofy-sweet lyrics (“You are my baby tonight, and I’m your daddy").

While 2008’s 'Red Album' was a disjointed hit-and-miss due to the band sharing songwriting and singing duties, the helm of 'Raditude’ is firmly back in Cuomo’s hands; leaving him to do what he does best – pen killer rock tunes for the geeks, like the stalker-rock swing of ‘The Girl Got Hot’ and the brilliant stomp of ‘Tripping Down The Freeway’. This joint’s not without it’s eccentricities though, including the surprisingly good dance-floor parody ‘I Can’t Stop Partying’, including cameos from Jermaine Dupri and Lil Wayne. Hearing Rivers Cuomo utter the words “Ok bitches, Weezer in this Heezy”, is worth the album price alone. And it don’t stop there – give sitar infused Bollywood ballad ‘Love Is The Answer’ a decent chance and you’ll realize it’s one of the album’s standouts.

'Raditude' is Weezer with the shades down – with the exception of the shocking pseudo-garage throwaway bonus track ‘Turn Me Round’, this album offers more killer and classic Weezer than many of it’s predecessors – this may just be the welcome return of the nerds.
 

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