It’s amazing to see that Weezer is still a thing. This isn’t meant as an insult, but a weird commentary on the state of their career in 2020. Most bands from the late-90s have devolved in some form to side acts, playing county fairs and relying on those sweet nostalgic plays to remind people of what they did. Asking most people if they have heard of Fastball or Eve 6 will leave you with a lot of funny looks, making them think you’re just making names up. It’s the harsh reality that a lot of music doesn’t exist outside of the moment they were most popular. These are the bands that you’ll find in clickbait articles titled “Where are they now?” and not even think twice about.
Not Weezer. By some miracle, they’re the one band who hasn’t gone away since “The Blue Album” took the garage rock world by storm. “Buddy Holly” and “The Sweater Song” remain radio staples alongside their newer material, and rarely has something seemed more bizarre. By hook or by crook, singer/guitarist Rivers Cuomo has found a way to cheat obscurity for close to 25 years, even managing to pander to fans with a benign cover of Toto’s “Africa.” He cannot be stopped. Even in a time where old guys incorporating rap into their sound may be hacky, he gets away with it.
It’s crazier because he was sold as the ultimate nerd of alternative rock. He had the soul of a poet and an ear for Top 40. He was a force to be reckoned with, and it makes their entire career a fascinating push and pull of both sides winning over for any stretch of time. Just when you thought that he’d release an album as fun as “The Blue Album,” he goes dark with “Pinkerton.” Is this their new direction? No! He’s going back to the crazier side, throwing in heavy metal riffs with “The Green Album” song “Hash Pipe.” There was a time when he could’ve been the greatest lyricist of the 21st century, and in some ways that potential still holds. Even as he gives in to his more absurd tendencies on “The Black Album,” he occasionally reminds you of Weezer’s full potential on albums like “Everything Will Be Alright in the End.” There is no chance to doubt them for long because they’re kind of always good in a tolerable way, but sometimes great. It comes pretty much twice a decade now, but you’ll have to wade through “Hurley” to get there.
With that said, there is one album that has pretty much been forgotten to time. Even their less acclaimed albums after 2004 have something that has left a cultural presence. You can understand who Cuomo was at any given point because of his tug at the Top 40 while opening up his heart with goofball clarity. However, given the recording process of “Maladroit,” one has to wonder why it isn’t hailed more often as their greatest album.
Released a year after the runaway hit “The Green Album,” Weezer made an album with such transparency that it would later cause problems. During the time of recording, the band shared demos daily in order to get feedback from fans. As a result, there are many songs with a couple different versions available online. Cuomo would be so eager for fans to hear the new music that he sent eight unfinished songs to radio stations for them to premiere before any official single release. The lead single, “Dope Nose,” charted before there was any actual pressing. This caused problems with Geffen Records and fans protested with an online group called “Unreleased Weezer Songs for the Masses.” Cuomo’s defense was that they had funded the recording by themselves, though it wasn’t enough.
In theory, this meant that “Maladroit” was the perfect record for fans. “Dope Nose” had been part of Weezer’s live show for almost two years at this point while songs like “Slob” were requested to be on the album. As a result, this is a record that feels like that obscure title that die-hards will pull out. “You like ‘Pinkerton’? Well, all true fans know that ‘Maladroit’ is their best work.” It helps that it shows just how bipolar the band was four albums in, mixing dark subject matter with some of their more infectious hooks. It’s experimental in a way that still feels rooted in something resembling Weezer. This was before their next album, “Make Believe,” introduced dance-pop to the sound and electronics became a permanent staple.
“Maladroit” was the point where they got dark, serving as the polar opposite of “The Green Album.” It presents what the band could be if they gave into their somber tendencies and made depressing alternative rock albums. Even then, there’s this underlying sense of fun at times that shows clarity of character. Every line has a purpose and it makes pop songs with a deeper meaning. Weezer was the voice of the masses, and it’s amazing that no song from this album has really resonated in the 18 years since.
Unless you’re seeing them live, hearing “Dope Nose” is rare. The song that comes close to having any deeper memory is “Keep Fishin’,” which may be remembered better as that time Weezer performed with The Muppets. This isn’t meant to be mistaken with their cover of “The Rainbow Connection,” nor is there really any tie between the two.
Like every other song on the album, the most interesting tidbit is that there are different versions. Some of the changes are slight, especially between the music video and single version. In the music video, the opening guitar riff is fuller. In the single, it’s a bit more hollow, sounding chintzy before building to the verse. From there, it’s even more difficult to determine any difference, though the single version runs longer than the album version thanks to a more drawn out ending.
With all of this said, the album version remains my favorite of the three because of two reasons. The first is that it opens with drums instead of an isolated guitar. There is something fun about the rolling drums as it builds to the guitar riff. Whereas the single feels a bit redundant before the first verse pops up, the album has a natural progression that flows better. Then, at the very end, it has one of my favorite moments in any Weezer song ever. As it reaches the end, Cuomo repeats the first verse. During this time, buried deep in the mix, there is a random guy performing a call and response. There’s no point to it, but it makes attentive listeners recognize the brilliance of Cuomo. He finds ways to reward those who notice his craft.
Then there’s the music video. As much as the song has enough catchiness to rank among Weezer’s most unappreciated, anyone who remembers this song outside of “Maladroit” is likely going to recall the music video. Much like how “Buddy Holly” featured the band placed into a version of Happy Days, this was going to see the band performing kitsch by placing this upbeat song alongside The Muppet Show.
What’s the real connection? Well, it was music video director Marcos Siega’s idea. It didn’t even have to involve Weezer. He just wanted to do something with The Muppets for the longest time, even once trying to get Ozzy Osborne to do something. When Kevin Smith dropped out of making the video, I guess Siega had that moment where a lightbulb flashed overhead. He finally had his moment to work with The Jim Henson Company. Having worked with Weezer on four other videos, including “Dope Nose,” it was a partnership made in heaven.
One of the more amusing things to know about the filming of “Keep Fishin’” is that it’s a devolution of Cuomo’s facial hair. When he was in Japan, he had grown a massive beard that can be seen in the “Dope Nose” video. However, there was strong consideration of removing his beard in order to film “Keep Fishin’.” At one point during a making-of video that aired on MTV 2, he is seen with a mustache. By the time the video was released, he was clean-shaven in order to make him appear much, much younger.
So he went from this…
To this…
To this…
It’s almost like nothing had changed. The same could be said about the set design. Considering that The Muppet Show hadn’t been in operation for decades, they had to redesign it from scratch. Otherwise, it was easy to work with The Muppets. Drummer Patrick Wilson had been tied up and kidnapped by Miss Piggy while Animal replaced him in the music video. As things continue on, many more Muppets rush the stage and ends with a rousing crowd singing to the camera.
There was an MTV 2 special called Weezer and The Muppets Go Fishin’ that featured the band being interviewed during the production of the video by Pepe the King Prawn. Anyone who is familiar with the short-lived mockumentary series The Muppets will be familiar with how things went as the band performs comical banter with the puppets. At one point Cuomo mentions that he grew up loving The Muppets because of Animal. Why Animal? Because underneath the manic energy were these depressing songs. For a special that meant to make Weezer look friendlier, Cuomo had no issue making it weird.
The thing that makes “Keep Fishin’” an interesting fit in the Weezer songbook is how it manages to bridge the gap between their older sound and the one that they would form. It was still guitar-driven, creating a choppy beat that sounds like a boat sitting on a lake. The bridge to the chorus is very sharp with the backing vocals kicking in, singing “Waste my days!” as if it’s the happiest thought in the world. When the guitars come in, it’s a thing of beauty as its fast-paced sound reflected Weezer’s ability to fuse styles and redefine pop music. There was something distinct about the band, and even if it sounds a bit like their later material, it’s still a stretch to say it’s the same thing.
It is difficult to suggest that Weezer stopped being good after this point because in a lot of ways they became more popular. They were more than a legacy act. They were able to release unexpected mixes of pop songs alongside metal pastiches that showed that Cuomo still had a weird sense of humor. He feels like he’s letting every idea that he’s ever had now inform his music, and it may have made him happier. What band doesn’t dream of having sustainability, able to reach new audiences for decades and decades?
That is where “Maladroit” exists, as this record between this underlying depression that Cuomo carried with him on albums like “Pinkerton,” and the desire to become a hit-writing kingpin. He claims that he has an algorithm on how to make popular music, and you have to give him credit. When they’re not making awful covers, they’re actually off in their own weird world. In a time where bands like Mumford & Sons and Imagine Dragons dominate the radio, Weezer has found a way to stand on their own against them. They keep fishing, finding new ways to stay relevant.
I don’t think it always works, but if there’s any problem it’s that Cuomo seems too happy nowadays. He’s free to do whatever he wants, and the results speak for themselves. Some of it’s great and even more is bad, but it feels like the logical progression of an artist who was labeled as a music savant by just “being weird.” Once he learned to accept himself, he lost a part of him that was interesting. Even then, that’s the magic of “Maladroit” where he was so eager to please by sharing demos with fans, wanting to make the most perfect album that he possibly could. For the first time he didn’t make a hit record, but a cult one. If you want to understand the versatility of Weezer, you come here. None of their other records are this weird.
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