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NEW TRACKS: Weezer, “Back To The Shack”

I forgot that disco sucks.

2014 may be the year of the most big comeback releases by big names. Pink Floyd, Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Radiohead all have been mentioned as potentially releasing something this year, and pop parody staple Weird Al’s Mandatory Fun shot to the top of the charts this past week. Now considering that we don’t have any material released yet by those first four acts, let’s talk about what may contend with Weird Al as the biggest comeback of this year: Weezer.

First performed on the Weezer Cruise in February and formally released earlier this week, “Back to the Shack” is an interesting track. Let’s skip the self-referentiality for a second and just think of it in the vacuum of previous Weezer lead singles. Almost every single matched the album fairly well. “El Scorcho” set the mood perfectly, while “Hash Pipe” was a lot harder than the rest of the album it was on. (“(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To” lost Album Similarity Points for not including Lil Wayne.) The common theme is that fans continue to worship Pinkerton as if it were Cleopatra and they dissect lead singles trying to find things that remind them of their lost queen, overreacting to little clues as signs of the second coming when three of the past four albums have strayed further and further away.

That gets us back to the self-referentiality of the song. The lyrics talk about Rivers wanting to get the band’s sound back to the way it used to be when they lived at the Amherst House and recorded demos in their kitchen. He even says that the pop style of the past few albums sucks in the first verse. He wants to return to that raw and real feeling that made them best. Does the song convey that? Eh, I think the self-referentiality doesn’t let the lyrics do that, but the instrumentation tries. The rhythm and style of the verses is more akin to a grungier “Beverly Hills,” but the choruses feature subdued synth-work, layering, and the quasi-slacking style found on Pinkerton with the rough edge of Maladroit’s best tracks. The fact that the choruses, bridge, and solo all try not to be naïve instrumentally is so fantastic. And oh that guitar solo. It’s better than the best parts of all solos from the past four albums combined. And, unlike some of the songs from the past few albums, the song finishes in a simple, non-grandiose manner exactly when it should, without unnecessary repeats of the outro. Overall, I have to say that this is a pretty good track. It’s good parts are fantastic while it’s weaker parts (lyrics and, ironically enough, a quasi-”Beverly Hills” style) aren’t that bad. It gives something for all of the anonymous and expatriot Weezer fans who had lost faith in the band to be excited about.

Will it be representative of the album? Judging from the #WeezerWednesday clips, I have to say that this track sounds somewhat like the album, albeit a little less rough. We’ll just have to wait patiently until September / if whenever another single is released to find out more!