On Friday, March 1st, the band Weezer released their 13th album and 6th self-titled album, Weezer (Black Album). The album was promoted with the release of the first four tracks as singles to radio stations “Can’t Knock the Hustle”, “Zombie Bastards”, “High as a Kite”, and “Living in L.A.”, and the release of the cover album “Weezer (Teal Album)” which covered pop songs from the 1980s along with rock songs from the 1960s and 70s.

This album looked to be promising after the ludicrous Teal Album and the success of their previous albums. But sadly the album doesn’t feel like Weezer, the absurdness of “Zombie Bastards” sounds like a joke song some teens made, and “Can’t Knock the Hustle” is an ill-fated attempt to sound grown up, with its cursing, and seize some the airwaves with its attempt at infusing Latin rock into Weezer. The infusion doesn’t work, it makes the 25-year-old band not sound like anything resembling even two years prior with the album “Pacific Daydream.”

But the saving grace is there are good tracks, such as “I’m Just Being Honest” and “California Snow, that seem like good old Weezer and would have been ideal as single candidates. If they had put these two as their singles then the reception would have been perhaps more opening. I can’t tell if they are going for a more pop focus or looking to experiment, but it is a shift from their previous movement where they were heading back to their 90’s days, after Weezer (Red Album). There truly is only a few good songs, like “Zombie Bastards”, and one great song titled “I’m Just Being Honest”. the rest are completely forgettable, and most likely won’t be performed at one of their concerts after their current tour.

Weezer allowed an acclaimed run with “Weezer (White Album)”, “Pacific Daydream”, and “Weezer (Teal Album)”, and produced something that just doesn’t sound like them. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had more outside help on the songs with the lyrics than for the prior albums. What was the cause for the path they are taking now? They are a 25-year-old band, they figured they would change to get some variety, but they went in the path of pop that is so over-saturated that my dead grandfather could probably get a record deal. People like Weezer for what Weezer sounds like, not because of the name.