Let’s be honest, today’s musical landscape doesn’t exactly favor, or cater to, alternative rock bands like Weezer. Hip-Hop, Pop and EDM dominate the market and the existing airways, leaving bands like Weezer to wonder about their place in all of it; wondering if the aesthetic of rock bands is drifting with time. At the very least it’s left Weezer’s frontman, Rivers Cuomo, feeling extremely nostalgic about the type of music — namely the Beach Boys — he grew up on. So nostalgic that Cuomo even wrote and titled their recently released single after the band. “Beach Boys” is the third released track of the band’s upcoming eleventh studio album Pacific Daydream. The band has also released “Feels Like Summer,” an EDM-inflused pop-rock track, and “Mexican Fender,” an anthemic love ballad, as singles off their upcoming project.
“Beach Boys” shows Weezer returning to their basic alternative rock roots alongside creatively crafted four-part harmonies that pay homage to Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys themselves. The track opens with a groovy bass lines, which gets answered by reverberated guitar notes, before Cuomo enters in. Cuomo reflects on the loss of melodies and “gorgeous four-part harmonies” before criticizing everyone for trying to be cooler than the person to their right or left, eventually blaming the “hip-hop world” for everyone’s inflated egos. As the song continues to develop, reflections and influences of early pop-rock become more apparent. Transient guitar riffs float behind Cuomo’s voice, running bass lines play out just below the surface, and Cuomo croons harmoniously atop it all. And if Cuomo’s message to revitalize “good” music wasn’t clear already, he cuts to the bridges and sings, “I’ve heard that before/ But I wanna hear it again (I wanna hear it over and over),” immediately followed by sampled voice over with the same essential message. We can all relate to how Weezer feels. Nostalgia makes us wish we were back in simpler times, where everything made sense, and this track can definitely transport you there. Just close your eyes and hit play. The good ole days are only a daydream away.
Pacific Daydream is set to be released by Atlantic Records/Crush Management on October 27, 2017.
