First mentioned by Weezer’s lead singer and rhythm guitarist, Rivers Cuomo, in a interview in 2021, SZNZ was planned to be a group of studio albums released throughout 2022, season by season. I remember hearing this news and being ecstatic. After the release of Van Weezer the same year I truly thought the modern Weezer was deceased. Although all four albums only consist of 7 songs each, together, they are able to tell a short story of Weezer’s want and need to expand into more music genres, and perfect how their fans view the “Modern Weezer.” However, a true Weezer fanatic would be able to hear Cuomo’s underlining feelings and intentions in each album and season. With that being said, I hope you enjoy my seasonal dive!
-JJ
SPRING
Released on March 20th 2022, Spring was the first album to be released in the SZNZ line up. It features light hearted music with matching vocals, and it is apparent what Cuomo thinks of this season: colorful calmness. Songs such as “A Little Bit of Love” and “All this Love” have a mostly acoustic guitar melody with the chorus usually featuring a simple, power chord progression in the background. A large part of both songs are the lyrics in which Cuomo shares his want for people to spread love, laughter, and happiness. It also seems that Cuomo’s lyrics follow his mental state and feelings at that time as there is almost no mention of his well known depression cycles in the lyrics or in interviews after.
My personal favorite on this album is “Angels On Vacation” because it shares a kind and heartwarming message of “riding the highs” and not needing much to have a good time, no matter where one is. I also think it sets itself apart, slightly, from other songs in the album as it more recognizable as a Weezer song, most notably due to Cuomo’s almost soprano verses and singing.
Is Spring a good album? No. In a day and age where almost every pop song and indie song feature the same 3 power or barre chords with a downloadable drum track, Weezer fans expected more of Cuomo, me included. Directly after the album released, I found myself wondering if the three remaining albums would balance out the first one, or if they would all end up being albums that any band could release, without any indication of Weezer’s signature touch. However, I do not want to be too harsh on the Spring album as a few songs were enjoyable to listen to, particularly when I was feeling rather down or sad. This is exactly what I believe Cuomo intended with this album as well; he wanted to spread a cheerful message to all his listeners and the easiest way to promote complex lyrics is to have a simple melody and musical simplicity.
SUMMER
Released on June 21st 2022, the Summer album was described by Cuomo as an “angrier, indignant scorcher of an album”. The album has many opposites to the Spring album, most recognizably the replacement of acoustic guitar with heavy electric guitar and more powerful chords in the chorus. Once again, most songs on the album are rather basic following the dull and cliche verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus format that makes modern pop music extremely boring. Personally, I don’t think any one song on the Summer album is worthy of being reviewed on its own but some songs do have good tidbits that I’ll mention quickly now.
“Blue Like Jazz” has an intriguing riff that plays throughout most of the song, showing a strong resemblance to basic metal and some rock. However, this song is completely ruined by the bridge later in the piece. The bridge is comprised of Cuomo’s classic weak and high pitched voice following the pitch and tone of a guitar and, at least for me, it seems like all musical deftness was defenestrated in that moment by Cuomo. (If you’re interested, the bridge begins at 2:06 in the song.)
“Thank You and Good Night” begins with a powerful power chord progression that truly sounds like metal. This feel is quickly ruined, once again, by Cuomo’s reedy voice poking through the chords, and, eventually, completely taking over the song.
I think this song perfectly presents what is flawed with the album as a whole: the guitar sound mean and powerful, but Cuomo continues with his calm and sometimes unmusical voice. The Blue Album also had rock songs on it, but they seemed to be closer to Weezer’s heart. In other words, the Summer album is Weezer as a whole, but particularly Cuomo, attempting to be something they’re not: a full fledged rock band. To give Weezer a little bit of credit, they did make it clear that each album of SZNZ would be a new style of music, so in accordance to that, the Summer album makes an attempt, albeit a futile one, at introducing the modern Weezer as a band capable of producing rock music, and a strong contender in alternative history.
AUTUMN
Autumn was released on September 22, 2023 and…Honestly, I do not know what to say for this album. Simply put, I hate it. I detest it. I am appalled that Weezer released the album as a “dance album”. If this were true, most of the songs would not lack a clear rhythm or tempo that one could potentially dance to. Nor would many of the songs feature a bridge at random intervals that completely take away any resemblance to a catchy song that could have potentially been made in the earlier sections. I am purposely not naming individual songs, because not only is the album as a whole simply despicable, all the songs sound, and are, extremely similar, destroying all my efforts of enjoying the album.
WINTER
Released on December 21st, 2022, this was the way Cuomo wanted to finalize not only the album quartet of SZNZ, but the whole year as well. Easily my favorite album from Weezer in 2022, I enjoy the sad and meaningful lyrics combined with the classic Weezer-rock feel from the backing power chords. Songs such as “I Want a Dog” and “The Deep and Dreamless Sleep”, have guitar solos in them, more than the small riffs thrown haphazardly into some other songs in the SZNZ albums. Furthermore, the album as a whole feels as if it has some structure to it.
“I Want a Dog” is the commencing song and is about Cuomo wanting a dog as a dependent and lifelong companion. Listeners certainly feel Cuomo’s sadness and almost desperate loneliness through the lyrics and the song’s closing reveals that Cuomo believes it is too late for him to get a dog and that he made “the wrong choice,” but also that he is content despite his regrets. This is important as many older Weezer songs feature Cuomo’s sadness and despair in life, but extremely few end with a resolution, or at least a compromise to that anguish.
The next few songs all are better than or equal to any song previously produced in the SZNZ album, but the last three songs truly tie up the album. “Dark Enough to See the Stars”, seems to be Cuomo once again looking back on his life with a few regrets, but happy where he is now and for the future. The song definitely does not promote Cuomo’s sadness as clearly, because, in my opinion, Cuomo wants this to be part of the ending for the album, and he does not want a sad ending as in many of his other albums written during depression cycles.
Moving on, “The One That Got Away” features rather basic lyrics but makes up for it by having strong chords and melody on guitar in the background. Although not my favorite song on the album, I do like the old-Weezer feel of it, and it makes me think that the Modern Weezer is not completely doomed as I was made to believe by the Autumn album.
Finally, “The Deep and Dreamless Sleep” takes the stand. This has to be my favorite song on the album with the well made, albeit short, solo near the end, and the many mood changes throughout the piece. I believe that this was Cuomo’s attempt at a Magnum Opus for the SZNZ album lineup, as much of the song is somewhat complex, showing that Cuomo made at least some effort in it. Most importantly however, is the fact that the song is not basic. The lyrics might be somewhat repetitive, but I give Cuomo the benefit of the doubt and believe that he wants the listeners to focus on the music, not the lyrics. Also, the song ends with a slow part, one that might be heard when a band plays an outro while performing live. Although not extremely impressive or complex, the last 60 seconds of the song do a good job of tying up the album and SZNZ as a whole. It is for this reason that the song stands out to me. Of course I also enjoyed learning and playing the solo for this song so I certainly have it memorized better than other songs in the album.
Overall, I do not believe Weezer evolved into something new with SZNZ, nor do I think they had any huge breakthroughs throughout that year. I do however believe that it is important to give each separate album its own chance and listen as they differ wildly, but it can be helpful to compare them as Cuomo did intend for them to be grouped by the label SZNZ.
Journalist indeed