Happy Weezer Day!

Each year on February 14 while most men are engaged in a panicked scramble to unearth the last box of chocolates at the drug store, I kick back and listen to one of my favorite bands and inevitably I attempt to share some of that quirky joy with others.

A quick reminder, the band had their first official practice on this date in 1992, making this the group's 21st birthday. Birthday shots for everyone!

Of course, there's nothing wrong with showering a loved one with homogenized greeting cards and overpriced sweets, but I've always found the gift of music to be one of the most meaningful things one can give.

That being said, enjoy your day no matter how you celebrate. Take some time to tell someone you care about them and then make them watch YouTube videos like I'm about to do.

First, "Undone (The Sweater Song)". A great cut off their debut album and a wonderful video shot in one continuous take by inimitable director Spike Jonze.



Next comes the criminally underrated song, "The Good Life" from 1996's Pinkerton. The video features Chloe from 24 as a pizza delivery girl. That's nice.



And finally, a fitting epitaph to a day of love is the classic b-side, "You Gave Your Love To Me Softly".

Former Weezer Bassist Mikey Welsh Found Dead

Over the weekend while we were basking in the warm glow of an exciting Hokie victory, I was busy missing the news that former Weezer bassist, artist and generally cool dude Mikey Welsh died in Chicago Saturday at the age of 40.

He was actually in town to see Weezer play. Welsh had finally begun to reconcile with his former band mates and even joined them on stage once again earlier this summer.

While cause of death has yet to be established, anyone who knows anything about Welsh's past has to worry that it was intentional.

Welsh's exit from Weezer was brought about mostly because he had a nervous breakdown hastened by the stresses of touring, an undiagnosed medical condition and heavy drug use.

Despite only recording one album during his time with the band, 2001's eponymous "Green Album", Welsh was there for Weezer's big comeback following the hiatus after the release of 1996's Pinkerton.

After leaving the band, Welsh dedicated himself to another artistic pursuit, painting and carved out a unique niche with his colorful works seen everywhere from Burton snowboards to skate park walls.

Welsh gained success as a painter, and had begun interacting with many fans (including myself) of his art and music, especially over the last few months on Facebook.

He began sharing intimate stories of his time in Weezer and gave some interesting insights into the life of the band during one of its most popular eras like:

so there i was... at a california pizza kitchen with rivers. "so...would you like to be in weezer?" or something along those lines. that was the question that was presented to me by r.c. the one i had been waiting to hear since i arrived in los angeles several days earlier.. "yes. i would", i think i stammered out.. i had been playing with the three members of weezer for a few days or so. but we d...idn’t play any weezer songs.. at least all the songs i knew so well. i had flown out expecting to shred away on "getchoo", or maybe "say it ain't so", or any of the tunes off of blue and pinkerton... but that wasn’t what rivers had in mind.. instead, we ended up jamming out on songs i had been playing with rivers for almost a year... "rosemary", "prettiest girl in the whole wide world"... these were songs i loved dearly... but man, i wanted to play the old stuff.. anyways, I accepted the offer to join the band.

It's a sad loss to be sure, but this is the first "famous" death that has really bothered me. Mikey was the bassist in my favorite band when I "found" them in 2001. He was funny, cool and had the perfect vibe for a decidedly un-cool, awkward band.

Also, he gave the funniest interview I can recall with drummer Pat Wilson. I think I posted it recently but it deserves another look.

Rest well Mikey.

Happy Valentine's....Bleh

I'm one of the people who has an extreme distaste for "V-Day".

No there's nothing wrong with happy couples and great shows of affection, I'm just not sure what that has to do with greeting cards and chocolate.

I'll mark the day as I usually do, by listening to Weezer (it's the 19th anniversary of their first practice!) and by hoping to avoid any truly disturbing V-Day activity.

I was reminded of this terrificly bitter song today by friend of the blog (and Cutting Room Floor) Sarah Gronski. Some folks just have all the musical taste.

Enjoy the day and Reel Big Fish.

Weezer Covers State Farm Song

Most people likely have no idea that the State Farm jingle is actually just part of an entire song.

It was written long ago by a young Barry Manilow; yes the same creepy lounge singer you're thinking of.

Manilow wrote advertising jingles prior to becoming a successful recording artist. He also wrote the Band-Aid jingle.

Anyway, Weezer got their "Memories" tour from a while back sponsored by State Farm and conversely agreed to record this tune at a later date.

It's interesting because despite being about as commercial a song as there can be, it's as vintage-sounding a Weezer recording as has been released in the last ten years.

As drummer Pat Wilson said on the All Things Weezer message boards this week,

It's kind of good because =w= sounds good when we play in a room together at the same time with Rivers on gtr and me on drums. That took us about 45 minutes vs 12+ months for Raditude. This is why I'm in semi facepalm constantly!

Interestingly candid, but far from shocking observations on the dysfunctional nature of this band.

Auto-Tune the News

Somehow I had never heard of Auto-Tune the News, but it appears to be required viewing.

This particular song came to my attention because it features Weezer but the real stars are congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY) and the big guy President Obama. I legitimately think Barack has Lil' Wayne writing his speeches from jail.

I should point out that the President has a really brilliant bit towards the end where he implies democrats are moving forward while republicans are going in reverse utilizing a car metaphor.

Hats off Mr. Wayne.

It's Easy

Well, we've once again essentially let the blog die. It happens periodically, especially in the summer months as the weather is conducive to general tomfoolery of the outdoor variety.

We're coming up on wedding week so Brian is fairly swamped. That also means that we'll have strange coverage from abroad on the event. Should be quite interesting.

As a stopgap proving that I continue to breathe, I give you an acoustic Weezer jam from some old AOL Sessions.

This is a Brian Bell penned song called, "It's Easy". It's a cool little jam complete with drums from an oddly baret-clad Rivers Cuomo and drummer Pat Wilson has a nice little extended solo on guitar.

Brian Bell takes lead guitar and lead vocals while bassist Scott Sharp supplies some smooth background vocals along with Cuomo.

Enjoy this and sit tight. This week should have some truly unusual coverage of all kinds of things. No hollow promises this time. Honest.

Represent: Unofficial song of U.S. Soccer

It's not too surprising that soccer nut Rivers Cuomo and his band Weezer are the ones behind this song. Rivers has had a long love affair with soccer and has written songs on the subject of the World Cup before, this time however it may help to fuel an historic run.

The U.S. team was blaring the song in the locker room following their stunning 1-0 win over Algeria when President Clinton came in to talk to the guys.

Excitement abounds. Go U.S.! Beat Ghana!!!

Song Of The Day: It's Easy

We've been very sports-centric as of late and I've been hearing grumblings from the masses. In respect to your wishes, I bring you a song from Weezer.

This was one of the tunes written for their 2008 release, Weezer, known as the Red Album. It was written by guitarist Brian Bell as one of the first songs to feature a lead vocalist other than Rivers Cuomo.

This is a nice little acoustic rendition done for AOL. It features Rivers on drums in a beret, nice vocals by Bell, cool harmonies by bassist Scott Shriner and a nifty little guitar solo by drummer Pat Wilson.

Song Of The Day- Pixies

You might not know of the Pixies directly, but trust me, you know them.

Active in the late eighties and early nineties, the Pixies were pioneers, essentially birthing the alternative rock boom of the early to mid-nineties. The Pixies are credited with being the first to use wide dynamics and start-stop timing, both of which defined the coming alt boom.

Pixies verses are typicially subdued and restrained, while the choruses are loud and feature wailing guitars and vocals.

Two of the most obvious examples of their influence are Weezer and Nirvana. Rivers Cuomo took the quiet-loud-quiet dynamics truly to heart and most classic Weezer songs have those crunchy guitars over the chorus. The perfect example from the weez is "Say It Ain't So", released in 1994.

Kurt Cobain said in a January of 1994 Rolling Stone interview that he was trying to write a song in the style of the Pixies when he penned "Smells Like Teen Spirit".

I was trying to write the ultimate pop song. I was basically trying to rip off the Pixies. I have to admit it. When I heard the Pixies for the first time, I connected with that band so heavily that I should have been in that band— or at least a Pixies cover band. We used their sense of dynamics, being soft and quiet and then loud and hard.

Clearly, the Pixies were incredibly influential and thankfully, finally reunited in 2004 after an 11-year hiatus.

The official song of the day is "Velouria" off their 1990 release Bossanova.

This video was filmed when they were offered to play on the British show Top of The Pops. There was a rule in place that only singles that had videos could be played on the show so the band made a quick video.

The video shows the band running down a rock quarry. It took 23 seconds of footage for the band to reach the camera and they then slowed that down to last for the whole song. Brilliant.

Song Of The Day- Weezer

This is a strange one. Weezer played a couple of random promotional shows last week. This is from a T-Mobile show promoting the release of some kind of new Sidekick product (Rivers mentions both in the song's intro).

I would first like to state that the actual versions of both songs Weezer covers in this video both suck. "Kids" by MGMT and "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga are both terrible. I hadn't heard either song but I knew they were popular. I had to check them out and I was appalled at how bad both of them are.

The keyboard/synth riff in the MGMT song however is actually pretty decent if not exceedingly simple. I think it's pretty catchy and the "Poker Face" part by Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo is comical here. It's cool to see him enjoying himself and sans the moderately creepy mustache.

Some interesting notes to me at least: Rivers went guitar-less at this show, giving drummer Patrick Wilson lead guitar duties, though everyone plays keys in this video.

That's Josh Freese back there on percussion helping out. Freese has played with a lot of groups including being a member of A Perfect Circle, Nine Inch Nails, The Vandals and Devo. He's a well known session player and has worked with countless others. No word on if he will join the band touring this summer but I think this was just a fun thing to do for all of them.

You never know with The Weezers though.

For some reason the width on this video is super widescreen, it was clearly filmed on one of these cell phone contraptions so it isn't in HD. Go here if you'd like to watch the wider version.

The Special Goodness

Today's song comes from Weezer drummer Pat Wilson's side project The Special Goodness. The band's name comes from the feeling Wilson gets when he's making music.

The band features Wilson on guitar and lead vocals and former Offspring and current Angel's & Airwaves drummer Atom Williard. Several Weezer members (former bassist Mikey Welsh and current bassist Scott Shriner) have played with the group live or on albums.

This song, "Life Goes By" is from the 2004 release Land, Air, Sea.

The band hasn't released any more albums, but may do something in the future. Pat Wilson has written many songs in recent years, though some of them are now being used as Weezer songs. Touring of Weezer and recording albums (they're rumored to be in the mixing phase of their latest full length release) has also limited action for The Special Goodness.

This video is directed by weezer.com webmaster Karl Koch.

Song Of The Day

This song has been featured before, but this is a fresh live performance that is quite outrageous. "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations On a Shaker Hymn)" was performed live on Spike last night during their video game awards show by Weezer.

The vocals are great by all the band members (though I think the women's choir is a bit stiff throughout). Rivers Cuomo's strange cavorting about the stage is both crazed and inspired.

Gotta love the barefoot, white-suit wearing Cuomo, even if he isn't playing guitar.

The bald guy playing guitar in Rivers' place is Dave Kushner from Velvet Revolver. He and Weezer bassist Scott Shriner are apparently old friends.

Song Of The Day

Today we feature one of the best songs from Weezer's catalog, "Only In Dreams", the final track from their eponymous debut album. This video is a rehearsal from back in 1994. It really encapsulates that raw garage vibe of early Weezer.

For a far more detailed look, check out Soymilk's most recent post on his songblog here.

Song of the Day - July 14, 2008

Today's song comes from the vast labyrinths of the You Tube world. Julia Nunes has developed quite a following with her fun ukulele covers of popular songs and her original tunes as well. She always seems to be enjoying herself, and you'll likely find yourself checking out her countless other videos once you watch one or two. This particular video is a cover of Weezer's "Keep Fishin'" off their 2002 album Maladroit.

Song of the Day - July 9, 2008

Today's update is a Weezer blitz. The song of the day is from Weezer's new self-titled release (also known as the Red Album). The featured track is "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations On a Shaker Hymn), a nearly six minute epic that goes through what essentially amounts to ten different songs in one track. Also we've added a link to view the band's video for the monster hit single "Pork and Beans" which has been viewed in excess of 9 million times. In the coming weeks I'll have a review of the album which I shall try to make somewhat unbiased, but from the prospective of a huge fan.