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Weezer plays with
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Review by Burl Burlingame
Star-Bulletin

Weezer
Weezer (Geffen)

When did kids stop playing their bass guitars and start strumming them? Even the Ramones didn't do that. It must have been Social Distortion that kicked off that bad habit. Anyhoo, there is a whole generation of bands in which the rhythm guitar, bass and drums work as one relentless unit, such as Green Day and Blink 182. And now here is Weezer.

Despite the relentlessness of the beat -- and a certain sameness to the sonic landscape of each song -- the band is subversively lyrical, and has a melodic power-pop approach. Some songs, such as the kick-off "Don't Let Go," are positively English Beat. Weezer is also fond of honest-to-gosh harmonies, and "Crab" and "Smile" are Beatlesque. Too bad there are no lyrics in the liner notes, because you'll wanna sing along while pogo-dancing.

Guitarist Rivers Cuomo isn't big on leads, preferring to echo the melody with reverb effects, which puts the load on the harmonies.

The hit so far off the record is the bitter "Hash Pipe," but "Don't Let Go" is likely to be the tune most covered. "Island in the Sun" has a cheeky insouciance that's entertaining. Weezer doesn't have Green Day's self-absorption or Blink 182's potty humor. And that's good. Or bad.

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