True creatives rarely lie dormant. Regardless of what’s happening within them or around them, their mind doesn’t settle. They continue to create. Rivers Cuomo is known for his prolific nature. My guess is when he was at his lowest, putting out his thoughts into poetic form might have been his cathartic therapy. Weezer’s hiatus was brought to my attention recently when I read through Stereogum’s Anniversary review of their controversial, fleeting 3rd record: The Green Album.
Stereogum writes up storied albums after a decade or two of existence. These can be fascinating reads; or great reminders of lost albums from our past. Pitchfork has been doing something similar: reviewing older records that were never reviewed on their site. Each Sunday, they present a new addition. When they’re on, holy shit are they on. But it’s Stereogum’s less formal, bar stool-like dissection Anniversary reviews and their subsequent user comments that propel me to listen with new ears. Stumbling upon these essays on records from my past, I’m drawn in by fresh perspectives, lost tidbits, and mentions of unreleased and unbeknownst to me material.
Searching for unreleased records used to be a routine activity pre-streaming. It was easy to run out of new things to hear if you hadn’t been to the record store lately, or you’re caught up on leaks, miscellaneous b-sides, and live recordings. There was a surplus of MP3s available at our disposal. But today, that choice in what to hear is exponentially greater thanks to streaming. It’s almost impossible to fathom excavating the depths of the Internet for an unreleased record that isn’t commercially available to hold or stream – MP3s are where these unreleased records breathe.
As a young music fan of the 90s, the Blue Album was everything; powerful guitar play, raw vulnerability, melodic and hook heavy power pop. It’s a flawless record that has impeccably aged and one that deserves to be played loud. At the time, Pinkerton was what it was for most everyone else: a disappointment. I wrote off this quirky quartet as quickly as I fell for them. But as time went on, and the backlash dissipated and completely flipped itself on its head, I came around to what wasn’t a sophomore jinx. Weezer’s 2nd full-length was emotional brilliance brimming with memorable melodic hook after fuzzy power pop punch. This act had seemed to disappear though, I was hungry for more material.
Fast forward four years from Pinkerton’s release and the band is on a Comeback Tour. Rivers wasn’t sitting around dormant. They created an album’s worth of new material now dubbed Summer Songs 2000 that was demoed and debuted live as they were building steam for the release of their 3rd record. While reading Stereogum’s review, the writer referenced an unreleased record. Wait, the period where this Los Angeles act was perhaps their strongest birthed another album?
MiS | Moving in Stereo 
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