Yahoo! Music Album Review

Released on 02/11/09
Label: DGC/Interscope Records

Weezer aren't exactly the subtlest of bands; their all-American, white boy rock schtick has always veered towards the testosterone filled, "two fingers up to The Man, maaaan" end of the spectrum rather than attempting any particular kind of delicacy. And fair play to them. When your mate was drunkenly tied to a chair and force-fed a bottle of whiskey, Weezer were there to soundtrack every retch and heave; when you decided on a summer's whim to roadtrip in a dodgy van to God knows where, "Buddy Holly" was the song yelled into the wind speeding down the M25. Point is that, sometimes, being unashamedly brash is far from a bad thing.

Somewhere along the line, though, Rivers Cuomo and co. have wedged the collective tongue ever so slightly too firmly in cheek and ended up, in "Raditude", producing an album that sounds like the aural equivalent of a mid-life crisis. The prominent themes of the record are girls, partying, partying with girls and girls at parties. Oh, and his, ahem, 'homies'. This tendency to drop in frequent doses of hip-hop slang results in the kind of cringing incongruities that only an almost 40-year-old man singing "I've got a real big posse with me / Yeah, I'm deep" can provide; it's truly embarrassing.

Needless to say, titles such as "The Girl Got Hot" and "I'm Your Daddy" are equally as resplendent with choice lyrical cuts. Though, like watching an operation, it's hard to steer your focus away from the wordy car crashes on offer throughout, "Raditude" is also notable for its melodic predictabilities. Driving yet jaunty guitars abound and backing chants fill the required spaces, yet it all comes across too much like a sub-par parody of their former selves.

Special mention has to go to the "High School Musical Goes To India" charade of "Love Is The Answer". We can only assume that this is either a) a hi-la-rious joke played on us by Weezer or b) a hi-la-rious joke played on Weezer by The Jonas Brothers. Either way, we're pretty bemused, although you've got to give them credit for actually having the audacity to put to record: "Love is the answer / You have got to trust in the world". Ouch.

Brief respite comes in the form of catchy dance-a-long single, "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To" and the grungier guitars of "In The Mall" but, overall, "Raditude" is pretty much full-on dismal. Next time, just buy a sports car and spare us the trouble.

    by Lisa Wright