Weezing

As far as band relationships go, Weezer was sort of a passionate young romance I had that burned out quickly, turned into good-natured distance as I followed the big hits but not the cds, and has now come to a mature appreciation and softer but more reliable attraction. That is, I've been listening to their new one, MAKE BELIEVE, as well as lots of other bands, and also catching up on all the ones I missed after the "Blue" album. "Beverly Hills" is the first single, a summertime hit if ever I've heard one, inspiring that same nerd affection for Rivers Cuomo and his coworkers as anything else they've done, even while riding a groove as old as (or older than) "I Love Rock 'N' Roll". There's a quieter, sensitive song on the disc with a tune as old as "Sea of Love" as well. Cuomo is a great synthesist, but while he has said on occasion that he keeps a notebook full of his studies on why his, Nirvana's, The Pixies' and other bands' songs have been hits, the songs still feel sincerely created, if not particularly deep, introspective or sonically reaching.

In fact, it's a little odd how normal the band's albums are, given how odd Cuomo himself is, as last week's ROLLING STONE interview attests. Lately, he is an extremely passionate devotee of vipassana, a meditative technique relying on fasting and seclusion in small spaces. Presumably, the author of "Hash Pipe", "Dope Nose" and the latest, "We Are All On Drugs" is not really on drugs anymore, and he has thrown aside a groupie-filled lifestyle for a two year vow of celibacy and vipassana retreats. The band, who call him Dude, seem to have at best a grudging admiration for his talent, but little personal feeling for the guy, and are not really that close with each other. Part of the hostility may come from such Cuomo practices as fining band members for playing in the wrong key, or his habit of scrapping songs already slated for the discs, resulting in allegedly hundreds of songs in the vaults, while Weezer's albums are generally forty minutes or less. I had a good laugh reading that he tried eHarmony and took their "three-hour" online questionnaire (it's about an hour, really) and was then told there was "no match for him anywhere in the world" or something, which isn't quite what it says, but was pretty much the feeling I got from it, too. No, I'm not identifying with Cuomo that strongly, really, especially since while reading that ROLLING STONE in a drugstore tonight I saw at least four women I was attracted to. I don't plan on undergoing two years of celibacy, if I can help it.

I do find myself drawn (non-sexually) to obsessive, complex artists, though, which explains the Welles interest. One thing I didn't really mention earlier is that he's just such a fun guy to look at, at once arrogant but always with a kind of wink in his eye that he knows he's ridiculous at the same time, or at least that's my read. That kind of playfulness in the eyes, set in that precocious baby face.

Other music holding my interest lately, or not: I've been downloading so much lately that I'm finding there are plenty of discs I've yet to listen to, or I'm not yet giving proper time for each to sink in. But on a first pass, Ben Folds' SONGS FOR SILVERMAN is very strong, mature piano pop, and Bruce Springsteen's DEVILS AND DUST is a very confident, lyrically strong effort. I've only recently caught up with the old stuff, preferring the spareness of NEBRASKA to much of the bombastic stuff, and I thought the couple songs I heard of the previous disc, THE RISING, sounded embarrassingly old hat, so I'm definitely not one of the faithful who thinks he should keep the E Street Band around forever. One really good disc I've been playing is The Arcade Fire's FUNERAL, a heavy, and yes, bombastic record that nonetheless earns it with really strong arrangements that build up suspense and create dramatic release, and the lyrics ain't bad, neither. I also like The Mountain Goats' THE SUNSET TREE, a mostly spare song cycle from the high-voiced John Darnielle that I can tell will really open up after more listenings, but lyrics like "I'm gonna make it through this year if it kills me" hit the mark right away. I also listened to the new GORILLAZ disc, DEMON DAYS, but nothing really jumped out as the next "Clint Eastwood," though they do have a track called "Dirty Harry". From what I can remember, a few songs near the end seemed to be telling some sort of allegory not too different from James Kochalka's MONKEY VS. ROBOT, but I didn't notice up to that time if there was any unifying theme up until then.

I haven't talked comics for a while; it's coming. Brief note: read some extremely nassty blog comments/reviews of the Fantagraphics FCBD release, FUNNY BOOK, which to my mind is one of the greatest primers of vital altcomics talent ever. (I realize I just misspelled "nasty" but it looks better this way). I won't favor them with linkage, but one had no interest in reading ANY of the talent within, which includes not just dividing-line-for-the-fun-and-not-folks Johnny Ryan, but both Jaime and Beto Hernandez, Dan Clowes, Ivan Brunetti and Peter Bagge. But, that's life, I guess: some people find ARCHIE and Batton Lash really funny. The other guy who hated Ryan's work, I guess I can't really blame him. I don't see anything but a childish prankishness there rather than hate, much like I see in Howard Stern, but if I was gay I might really be hurt by some of Ryan's gags. I dunno; much like "the love you take is equal to the love you make" from The Beatles' "The End", I figure the fun you make of yourself justifies an equal capacity to make fun of others. It's a new theory--I'm working on it.