SOUNDTRACK: WEEZER-Tiny Desk Concert #837 (April 1, 2019).
Weezer is surprisingly polarizing for a band that writes fairly mundane pop songs.
I can’t help but think that this Tiny Desk Concert will just add fuel to the fire. It’s the four Weezer dudes (Rivers Cuomo: lead vocals, guitar; Brian Bell: guitar, vocals, keys; Scott Shriner: bass guitar; Patrick Wilson: drums) on acoustic instruments.
Why polarizing this time? Because they play unexpected songs. They don’t play Africa, nor do they play any of their popular songs. They also don’t play fan favorites from the first two albums (well, sort of).
They open with “Longtime Sunshine,” a 1994 track that’s only appeared as a Rivers Cuomo home recording on bootlegs and compilations, and on the deluxe edition of Pinkerton. With piano and acoustic guitars, it really sounds nothing like Weezer, except that it is clearly Weezer (the lyrics, that voice). Rivers plays the guitar solos and there’s some surprisingly loose bass work.
They sound good, but a little less than perfect, which is cool. As the blurb notes
This is probably the loosest you’ll ever see Weezer. Known for meticulously produced — and electric — live shows, frontman Rivers Cuomo and the rest of the band settled in behind the Tiny Desk for an entirely acoustic set without the in-ear monitors, click track or vocal separation they usually employ to stay locked-in and tight for bigger performances. The result is surprisingly intimate, with songs that feel lived-in and rumpled, like an old flannel shirt from the ’90s.
They follow that up with a new song.
Then the band performed a stripped-down version of its electro-pop song “Living in L.A.,” from Weezer’s new self-titled “Black Album,”
I actually don’t know the proper version of this song (but I do know a lot of people don’t like the electro sound of the new album). So maybe this version (which is really good) will make them wish the recorded version were more like it. Bell adds another acoustic guitar and the riffing is pretty heavy (for acoustic guitars).
For everything that polarizes people about Weezer, the one thing people seldom talk about is their musicianship. All four of them (Bell in particular) are very good and even if they are loose hear, they still sound right on.
I was pretty excited to hear them play “Across the Sea” from Pinkerton, since the certainly don’t play this much. I never really understood the lyrics all that well, but i enjoyed singing the parts that I knew. The blurb puts it well:
It’s a song Cuomo originally wrote in his early 20s, inspired by a fan letter he’d received from a young woman in Japan. While beloved by many Gen-Xers who’d first heard it on 1996’s Pinkerton, the song’s lyrics haven’t aged terribly well.
But if you can look past that (I think it’s only the one line that’s uncomfortable-making), the version sounds great. I especially like the combination of Rivers playing the solo and Bell playing the other guitar.
It’s nice that they were allowed to play four songs. They play the new song “High as a Kite.” I didn’t know this song either and I actually can’t imagine it done in any other way. It’s quite a pretty song. I’m very curious to hear the recorded version.
There’s a moment n the song where it shifts gears where it sounds like they screwed up, but I don’t think they do, it’s just a little clunky in this format. Again, I want to hear what it sounds like on record.
Weezer is known for being kind of goofy, so it’s easy to expect them to do something fun, but they are all business. Aside from this goodbye, “We are Weezer, from the planet Earth. Have a nice life!” they don’t really say anything or break from playing straightforward songs.
The blurb, again, puts it well. It says the song “High as a Kite,” is a
song of innocence and escapism, Cuomo sings about daydreaming and how he wants to disappear — which is exactly what the band did once the song was over.
Longtime fans of Robin Hilton will know that he loves Weezer. I never found out how he reacted to this Tiny Desk. Was it polarizing for him as well, or was it just cool to see this side of an otherwise very polished band.
[READ: April 9, 2019] The Return of King Doug
I have had this book on my bookshelf for a decade, apparently. I’m not even sure where or how I came to have it although the Oni Press label is a good indicator.
The book starts twenty-five years earlier in the Magical Kingdom of Valdonia.
Valdonia is made up of strange-looking creatures. Part of this is also because of Wook-Jin Clark’s really odd drawing style. It took me a while to get used to and enjoy the way he draws and even now I still find it a little off, somehow.
Two centaurs are speaking about the Dark Queen and how she will not rest until she has defeated their kingdom. Balthazar shows off their one defense, the Magical Heart of Agnon. They just need someone pure of heart enough to wear it. And Balthazar has heard that one of the Tumtums, Feldspar, has met a stranger–a human child–who might just be that pure being.
The human is Doug and he found his way into their village. He also bears the mark of the prophecy. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 