“I get particularly frustrated when—andthis has happened quite a lot—the press insinuates that I am intentionallytrying to piss off our audience, that Weezer is creating music that it knows isbad and is putting it out there to make people angry,” Cuomo vents. “That’stotally opposite from the truth. We love what we’re doing, and we hope thatother people love it—and we thoughtthat other people would love it.”
But Weezer’s fans are a fickle lot,dedicated to an ideal of the band that no longer exists. Their core followingbonded to the band with 1996’s Pinkerton,a trenchant, bitingly personal record that a generation of teenagers grew uplistening to alone in their bedrooms, believing they were the only ones hearingit. For those fans, none of Weezer’s new albums could live up to Pinkerton’s impossible standard, butthey’ve become especially disillusioned with the group over recent albums, asCuomo stopped recording his diary entries and succumbed to the carefree allureof modern pop music.
As the first Weezer album that owes moreto Top 40 than it does alternative rock, Raditudemay be the group’s most divisive yet. It was recorded with a spate of popproducers like Kelly Clarkson/Katy Perry hit-maker Dr. Luke. Its lead single,“(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To,” earned instantcomparisons to the Jonas Brothers. Another track, “Can’t Stop Partying,” pairedCuomo with producer Jermaine Dupri and rapper Lil Wayne. To Weezer fansdisinclined toward commercial pop, the whole album seems like some kind ofcruel joke, but it’s not. This is the music that genuinely makes Cuomo mostexcited right now.
“The radio station that I listen to outhere in L.A. isKIIS-FM, a pop station, and it’s constantly blowing my mind with amazing soundsand productions,” Cuomo explains. “With the development of music recordingtechnology and processing, there are so many crazy new sounds now, and thosesounds of course influence new compositions. I’m constantly hearing things I’venever even imagined before.”
Cuomo says he knew that adopting thesepop sounds would make him a minority in the rock scene, though he neverintended Raditude to land like agrenade.
“I didn’t expect that it was going tocause as much of an uproar as it has in the rock music press, but I’m willingto stick up for Weezer and Raditudeand explain our position,” he says. “I really think there is a lot of artisticvalue in what we’re doing, even though it may at first seem overly simplistic.
“I just love the record so much,” headds. “Whenever we go to do these in-store signings and they’re playing therecord in the background I’m still just blown away by it. I just feel that, inthis situation, Weezer is right and the critics are wrong. I’m sorry.”
To Cuomo, the themes on Raditude—young romance, independence,partying—are part of a pop tradition that dates back to The Beatles and theBeach Boys. The album’s nods to rap culture aren’t new territory for Weezer,either. Cuomo has been proudly parroting hip-hop slang since Weezer’s 1994self-titled debut. Even the sacred Pinkertonmade room for a couple clumsy raps on “El Scorcho.”
“From the very beginning of Weezer, wethought of ourselves as a pop band, and we totally stuck out in the L.A. grunge scene, wherea lot of people looked down on us for being a pop band,” Cuomo says. “That’sjust where our taste was at, and that’s where it’s always been at. It’s alwaysfelt to me that it’s actually rebellious to be a fan of pop music.”
Cuomo says he’s carefully considering theresponse to Raditude, and hopes tointegrate some of the feedback into future songs, which he suggests may mark areturn to more personal songwriting. He maintains, however, that there’s nopleasing critics who dismissed the album simply out of a fundamental biasagainst pop.
“There’s a certain crowd out there thatwants to listen to a kind of music that can’t be widely appreciated, and theywant to feel elite,” Cuomo posits. “I’ve never felt that way about music. Musicis about reaching out to people and communicating to people and not feelingbetter than other people. It’s about looking for common ground. So if you’relooking to feel artistically or intellectually superior to others, then youprobably can’t be a Weezer fan.”
Weezerplays the Eagles Ballroom on Thursday, Dec. 3, at 8 p.m. with openers Jack’sMannequin and Motion City Soundtrack.
