The Weezer That Once Was, The Weezer That Will Always Be
by Sloane DiBari, Opinions Editor
Illustration by Naiya, EIC
It only seems fitting that Weezer put out their first new piece of music in four years on April 1st. But don’t be fooled (hahaha) by the jocular release date: Weezer’s new single “Shine Again” is serious business. Distributed a week prior via USB stick to fans at a rooftop show that a bizarre number of outlets have called “intimate,” “Shine Again” dials in on the monotony of contemporary life. When sticky-sweet “good morning kisses” hold the same syntactical weight as the “dog-walk [and] the dishes,” just another “task on my list,” what’s the point of anything anymore?
Weezer knows they can’t answer that question. What they do know is this: The sun inside will shine again. If reading that heartwarming mantra from drummer/occasional wordsmith Patrick Wilson puts a smile on your face, just imagine how it sounds channeled through the uber-Californian baritone of our venerable, long-suffering frontman Rivers Cuomo. Now imagine that set to the tune of an anthemic chorus over stadium-sized blasts of overdriven guitar. Now imagine a dog wearing a propeller hat. Feels good, doesn’t it?
“Shine Again” is, like, whatever. It’ll at least get the job done for plenty of people who aren’t me—for ride-or-die Weezer fans and, imaginably at some point in the near future, the people making commercials for activewear brands marketed toward “average guys.” It goes without saying, also, that no one would care one way or another about “Shine Again” if it wasn’t a Weezer song. “Shine Again” is not a Weezer Tune like “Pork and Beans” or “Undone (The Sweater Song).” It’s not because the lyrics are lacking the signature Cuomo touch, either; the Wilson-penned “My Name Is Jonas” off Weezer [Blue Album] is definitely a Weezer Tune. Likewise, Cuomo’s totally awful “Beverly Hills” is also a Weezer Tune, because whether a song is a Weezer Tune isn’t about its quality. It’s about some ineffable thing that makes a Weezer Tune a Weezer Tune; if I had to try to describe it, I’d say it’s a certain self-effacing shamelessness that only Weezer can evoke. In other words, if “Shine Again” was sung by the kid from AJR and had some horns playing the guitar part, I’d think it was merely a moderate improvement from AJR’s usual fare and keep moving. It’s only a Weezer song because the Weezer guys are the ones playing it.
I know this all sounds derisive, but trust me, I don’t hate Weezer. I’ve been known to spin Blue from time to time (and who doesn’t, really?). I even had a real Weezer Moment in 2021 when OK Human came out, one of the first in a wave of post-Covid Weezer records. And then there was Van Weezer that same year, which, as one might expect from the title, was a kind of grotesque reanimation of Van Halen. Then came the SZNZ EP series in 2022, each named for one of the four seasons and released on its corresponding equinox or solstice. These EPs were, predictably, gimmicky and goofy as hell. Nevertheless, even the least listenable moments of Weezer’s post-pandemic rapid-fire releases remain kind of charming in that pesky Weezer way. The Apple Music blurb for SZNZ: Spring said it best: “They’re always funny, but they’re never exactly kidding.”
So what is “Shine Again” missing, then? It’s not funny in the way so much of Weezer’s 2021–2022 run was—not that Weezer hasn’t historically pulled off being poignant, as with hits like “Say It Ain’t So.” Their strokes of genius and steaming piles of crap are united in their unwavering earnestness, and “Shine Again” is no different in that respect, either. In fact, it’s almost heartbreakingly sincere. It really, truly believes that the sun inside (inside my heart? in my mind? in my soul? in our soul?) will shine again. I feel genuinely bad for not liking it.
And maybe that’s it, isn’t it, because when has anyone ever felt bad for dunking on Weezer? No doubt Pinkerton came from a place of great emotional strife for our boy Rivers, but it’s extremely easy to deride cuts like “Pink Triangle”—and, for a certain type of rock fan, it’s also extremely easy for its hooky chorus to become a guilty pleasure. But “Shine Again” doesn’t inspire any of that. It’s too purehearted to hate, yet too vapid to love.
Generally speaking, people who are aware of Weezer fall into four camps: those who unflaggingly love Weezer, without a modicum of care for the haters; those who love Weezer and feel the need to defend their honor to the haters; those who feel ashamed for loving or even liking Weezer; and those who revel in hating Weezer. Weezer is and always has been less of a band and more of a cultural phenomenon, the musical equivalent of bleu cheese: either repulsive or exquisite in a way that is only understood by the most refined palates, depending on who you ask. Still others may feel kind of self-conscious about choosing to order something whose defining feature is mold in front of all their cool friends at Applebee’s Half Apps. And what is Weezer without whatever inarticulable quality it is that makes people react so strongly to them?
But then again, it doesn’t really matter what Weezer does or doesn’t do. The hype for the Hella Mega Tour was less about hearing Van Weezer live and more about hearing Weezer (not to mention Fall Out Boy and Green Day) live, and this tour—dorkily titled “Weezer: The Gathering”—will be no different. People who love Weezer will never stop supporting these tragicomic rock stars, and people who simply think seeing Weezer would be funny will snag a few tickets, too. In the end, whether a handful of music snobs think their new single is corny/boring/annoying/whatever won’t change anything, because even if some of their fans are ashamed of themselves, Weezer sure as hell isn’t. Weezer has found the secret to eternal relevance, fandom, and life: Never being afraid to be yourself.
