OK Human - Weezer: Review
Weezer
is kind of in a world all their own. The California alt-rock band became one of the most loved acts of the 90's with a debut and sophomore record that are both still massively revered to this day. Since then however Weezer has gone through numerous stylistic changes the results of which are often highly up for debate. From maligned mainstream pop efforts like Make Believe and Rattitude to power pop revivals like The White Album it's basically impossible to make any definitive statement about Weezer's entire discography. Despite this frontman Rivers Cuomo's delightfully un-cool demeanor and songwriting has allowed the band to persist with a cult like following and maintain popularity through each phase of the bands career.
Review By Lav:
When I first started writing about music back in 2016 Weezer and I were on very good terms. 2014's Everything Will Be Alright In The End had impressed me with its willingness to include more complex compositions and strange grooves but the real treat was on The White Album where the band pinned some of their best songs in 20 years with Rivers sun-bleached bravado feeling more like a character study than ever before, Since then the bands 3 full length releases have failed to necessarily impress me. 2017's Pacific Daydream was just as derivative and forgettable a foray into mainstream pop as Make Believe a decade earlier and while there was some novelty to hearing Rivers take on songs like TLC's No Scrubs on the covers record The Teal Album ultimately I don't find myself returning to it much. While there were moments on The Black Album I found fascinating it was ultimately a mixed bag and I still have no idea what to expect from the upcoming Van Weezer record later this year. All that being said I still find myself getting excited when the band gears up to release new music and I'm glad that's the case here because OK Human is pretty good.
The record only runs 30 minutes across its 12 tracks and thankfully only one song was released as a single going into the record. The track is the opener All My Favorite Songs which is far from up-beat but serves as a great tone setter for the baroque instrumentation and intimate performances throughout the album. While the lyrical imagery is extremely on the nose that's kind of what I expect from Weezer at this point and the song is plenty catchy enough to make it work. Grapes Of Wrath is a hilarious and quintessentially Weezer song all about listening to Audiobooks. River specifically calls out Audible as well as Grapes Of Wrath across the bouncy, wordy song and I find it funny and charming from start to finish. The song isn't a novelty either as the hook is legitimately soaring and features some of the heaviest splashes of classical instrumentation anywhere on the record making for a great track.
The record does have a slight dip in quality in the middle but picks right back up in the last third starting with Bird With A Broken Wing a change of pace ballad that I absolutely love. The song features interpretations of its title both metaphorically and literally and transitions that into an absolutely triumphant hook. The instrumental is small when it needs to be but always finds the right moments to erupt with emotional intensity to punctuate the songwriting. Here Comes The Rain is a HUGELY Beach Boys influenced song about maintaining positivity with a simple but unforgettable hook. Nothing about the song is necessarily groundbreaking but the straight to the point approach the track takes means no frills are necessary. It's a short, bright and totally anthemic cut that feels at home on the records back half. La Brea Tar Pits is an absolutely awesome closing track that comes out of absolutely nowhere. The song sports a wandering string section that I love and some charming juxtapositions of poetic metaphors with genuinely negative feelings. The hook is absolutely perfect alongside the baroque instrumentation and this was probably the track I found myself most excited to return to each time I listened to the record.
There aren't a whole ton of outright bad songs on the album but there is definitely a higher and lower tier. Aloo Gobi is a fun little power pop number with a shaky hook and some very old school sounding piano phrases. I've been back and forth on the song as Rivers corny dramatic vocals calling into the distance sometimes affect me in different ways. It isn't one of my favorite songs here but it's got structure and I like the instrumental. Numbers is a ballad that feels surfy in a nostalgic and heavily Weezer-esque way. The composition is on the basic side but it does set up for some meaningful high points. My biggest problem is with the hook which really needs a little more to it besides one soaring high note after another. The tracks saving grace is that it's one of the more poignantly written on the record. Dead Roses isn't a bad song either I just wish it was placed somewhere else on the record. It's a ballad that immediately follows Bird With A Broken Wing but doesn't reach nearly the dramatic highs of the song that precedes it. I think slipping this track in between some of the brighter songs on the first half of the record would do it a lot of good.
Playing My Piano is so stream of consciousness it sounds like a Mark Kozelek song. Rivers literally muses on zoom meetings, his wife and kids being asleep and not washing his hair. The song is incredibly on the nose which is why the immaculate piano instrumental feels completely out of place until the percussion slides in on the second half. The song isn't terrible but it's a little hard to take seriously. Finally Screens is a kind of boomer song about the dangers of technology which I think is really funny because Weezer really isn't that old, like they still feel too young to be saying shit like this. As much as the ideology of the song feels a bit misaligned I can't help but vibe with the grooving instrumentation and slick hook. The track is surprisingly triumphant yet slightly neurotic in its mixing and frankly I like almost every part of it aside from the message at its core.
OK Human is Weezer's baroque rock album. From intimate piano passages to what sometimes sounds like a whole orchestra of classical backing instrumentation they are sounding instrumentally mature while lyrically sounding just as Weezer as ever. The record is versatile having tons of fun at some points and digging into some serious meaning at others, and even the down points on the record aren't particularly bad. All around I just like this thing a lot and while there may only be a few tracks entering the large pantheon of all time great Weezer material the consistency is undeniable. 7.5/10
Album Cover Review By Tyler Judson:
This cover is a maximalists dream. There are so many small things hidden in this illustration that catch your eye whenever you look back at it. I don't think the colors make those details stand out and it gets all mushed together. Had there been a contrasting color then the details and the subject would have been more readable There doesn't need to be any text in this as the would be way too much information. 7.5/10
For more alt rock check out my review of The Killer's Imploding The Mirage here
