There seems to be an edict in Weezer HQ against over-thinking things. Want to take a picture of "Lost" actor Jorge Garcia and make it your album cover? Go for it! Want to name the album after his TV character, too? Why not?
That same sort of scrappiness follows through to the songs on "Hurley," the band's eighth album.
This is the loosest the band has been in years; the songs' rough-hewn edges most closely approximate the band's beloved 1996 album, "Pinkerton." That album was, of course, several life cycles ago for Weezer, and it came at a time when people pegged "voice of a generation" tags on lead singer Rivers Cuomo.
Cuomo has spent the better part of his time since pointedly dodging such designations, purposely lowballing fans' expectations with frustrating exercises in vapidity (see "Make Believe" or "The Red Album").
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"Hurley," however, mixes equal parts of goofiness and nostalgia, and it comes out sounding warmer than any Weezer album in a decade.
Maybe it's aging (Cuomo turned 40 this year), or maybe the band is finally coming to grips with its place in the world, but Weezer finally sounds comfortable being Weezer again. Don't over-think it - just go with it.
CD Review
Weezer, "Hurley" (Epitaph Records).
