Weezer - Maladroit
(DGC)

If you’re wondering why so many people are pronouncing the title of the new Weezer album in strange ways, that is because it’s actually a french word. “Maladroit” (mal-uh-dwaht) generally means “inept” as an English word, but the literal translation is “awkward”, which in itself is a pretty reasonable description of the album.

Weezer seem to be rushing through albums like crazy ever since they decided to reform, and now that ex-bassist Matt Sharp is suing them for royalties from their first two records, they’re going to have to knock off new albums twice as fast if they want to make any serious money. But I’m not here to question Weezer and their motives; the bottom line is that it still feels nice to have a brand new Weezer album in my hands in time to kick off the summer. As far as I’m concerned, Weezer have always provided the perfect soundtrack for the summer, and although Maladroit is a far cry from the Blue album or Pinkerton, it still manages to deliver this to some extent. Take the album’s first single, Dope Nose, for example; despite its inherent cheesiness, it is the perfect dumb, fun summer party song.

But Maladroit is a real mixed bag overall. There is some good, and there is also a lot of bad. One thing is for sure — this is the farthest Weezer have strayed from their trademark sound thus far, and I’m not too comfortable with the direction they seem to be headed. Maladroit makes me want to go back to the Green album, regardless of its dry songwriting and mostly forgettable moments, and cherish it just because of how much more closely it resembled the big W’s first two classic records.

The main problem with Maladroit is that there is far too much Ted Nugent southern rock attitude and/or nu-metal guitar sound being thrown into the mix. I wonder if the new bassist has anything to do with this… he does seem like the greasy rocker type. It was a nice gesture for Rivers to try to vary up the guitar solos so that they don’t simply repeat the vocal melody, but all the extra guitar noodling just sounds aimless and messy. Weezer have always been, and should always be, about keeping things simple. Songs like “Take Control” and “American Gigolo” are almost embarassing to listen to at points, and various other songs could be a lot better if they just dropped the excess soloing.

The lyrics for most of the songs are pretty terrible too, and it’s strange that for the first time they decided to publish them in the liner notes so that we can have undeniable proof of just how lame they are. Check out these quips from Dope Nose: “Go bust some rhymes real slow / I’ll appear, Slap you on the face and enjoy the show” and “Cheese smells so good on a burnt piece of lamb / Fag of the year who could beat up your man”. Did I actually just read that? This is what I mean when I say their new songs are sounding rushed. The least they could do is take 5 minutes to string together some words that actually make sense.

Despite these problems, however, Maladroit is not all bad news. There are some pretty cool moments too, but there isn’t really one song in particular that is solid from start to finish. Many songs have bland verses, but then move through an awkward transition into a more typical sing-along Weezer chorus. One thing that Maladroit does have over The Green Album is the re-emergence of some of the classic Weezer back-up vocals. I guess maybe that new bassist is good for a few things after all.

The second half of the album is definitely stronger than the first. Aside from the dreamy “Death and Destruction”, the first half features a bunch of inconsistent songs that just don’t sit well with me. At the halfway point we get the album’s strangest song, “Burndt Jamb”, which is kind of like a bizarre loungy version of “Island In The Sun”, and then things pick up with “Space Rock” and “Slave”. If there is a highlight to the album, I’d have to choose the one-two punch of “Possibilities” and “Love Explosion”, the former being the hardest hitting Weezer song to date, and the latter being a catchy Beatle-esque song with an infectious chorus. The album’s final track, “December”, is also excellent, and although it is mellow it may in fact be the closest thing to the original Weezer sound that I’ve heard in a long time.

There is a cd-rom portion to Maladroit with some video clips of live performances. I’m sure this is just incentive to make sure people buy the album since there were so many mp3s of the songs made available through the Weezer website as the album’s recording progressed. This isn’t anything to get excited over though, just a bunch of pixellated Quicktime videos with shaky camera work. They don’t even show any songs in their entirety. Oh but there’s a video clip of them riding a skateboard around the hallways of some stadium before a show. Those Weezer guys sure are a wacky bunch.

Maladroit is another sub-par album from Weezer, and it has become clear that without Matt Sharp their songwriting just can’t measure up to what it once was. A few of the choice cuts from this album may very well form the soundtrack to your summer, but as a whole it’s not listenable enough, and it serves only to further dilute the rock legend that was, and still is Weezer… whether we like it or not. — Sean