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Weezer Creates a Playlist for Surviving Heartbreak

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Welcome to SOUND ADVICE, the weekly home for playlists assembled by the friends, rivals and romantic interests of Interview. Recent editions have featured selections from After, Soulwax, and 1LDK. Taking over this week is the much loved rock quartet Weezer. After building a catalog that includes the color themed albums Blue, Green, Red, White, Teal, and Black, the Los Angeles group is expanding its palette once again with a new release titled Gold. The record blends carefully constructed pop melodies with rough edged rock energy, recalling the sound of the band’s earliest years. Before unveiling their first album in four years and beginning a North American tour, the members created a collection of personal favorites and overlooked gems for us. Moving from Beethoven sonatas to classic Van Halen tracks from the 1980s, their choices reflect the wide ranging tastes of the musicians themselves. They then answered our questionnaire, revealing what they listen to before taking the stage, clearing up their views on ghosting, and explaining what they really make of Gen Z.

What do you listen to before hitting the stage?

SCOTT SHRINER: I usually do not listen to music before we play. I do vocal warmups and go through any of the songs in our set that need practicing.

RIVERS CUOMO: Nature sounds, like birds and creeks and waterfalls.

 
 

Dream fifth member of the band, dead or alive?

PATRICK WILSON: 4 is plenty!

CUOMO: Matt Sharp

Weezer sits on a roof.

Favorite album: Blue, Green, Red, White, Teal, Black or Gold?

SHRINER: Fave color album is Red.

One of your songs off the new album is titled “Don’t Make It Weird.” What’s the fastest way someone can make things weird?

BRIAN BELL: I think ghosting someone ranks up there with weird and abhorrent behavior.

CUOMO: Say the first thing that pops into your mind.

Weezer poses dressed in jungle safari gear.

Which song is going to surprise longtime fans the most?

CUOMO: “C.E.O.” because we interpolate ourselves.

BELL: The song that will surprise most Weezer fans is “The Show Must Go On.” It’s a good driving song, and while it might sound familiar, it will also take you to very unexpected places.

Which artist are you streaming the most right now?

CUOMO: Binaural beats.

Weezer poses in a living room.

Which city has the most unhinged Weezer fans?

SHRINER: I’m going with Mexico City for most unhinged W fans.

Thoughts on Gen Z?

CUOMO: They value different kinds of people.

WILSON: They’re great! Two of my kids are Gen Z! The way I’m like, “No, because same!”

Pick three words to describe this new album:

WILSON: Analog, feel, dimensional.

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Johnny Marr Takes On A Blind Ranking Of Five Of His Songs

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Would Johnny Marr place one of his solo songs ahead of favourites from The Smiths and Electronic? His choices are revealed in NME’s Blind Ranking video below.

Ahead of the release of ‘The Age Of Everything’, which arrived last Friday, October 2, NME sat down with the guitarist for a look back through his catalogue. Marr was challenged to place five songs in order of greatness, choosing a position for each without knowing which song would follow.

Electronic’s ‘Getting Away With It’ came first, with Marr saying it “goes down very very well, even if people are hearing it for the first time”. Next came ‘Spin’, taken from his latest solo album. Reflecting on the newer song, he admitted that “not everybody knows it, but it makes an impression”.

When ‘This Charming Man’ by The Smiths came up, Marr observed: “Obviously it’s very well known, but it goes by so quick.” The track remains a “connection” to his younger self, he explained: “I can hear the young man who wrote those guitar parts”. He described his 2014 solo release ‘Easy Money’ as “pretty catchy”, adding that it “goes off bigger than any other at any gig”. He then considered another much loved Smiths song, ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’.

“Beautiful song to play. Very proud of it still,” Marr reflected. Recalling a recent performance in Liverpool, he added that “it occurred to me that it’s the ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ of my generation.”

See where each song landed in Marr’s ranking by watching the video below, then share your own order in the Instagram comments.

 

The wider conversation with NME covered his “emphatic” album ‘The Age Of Everything’, his admiration for The Cure and Fontaines D.C., and his thoughts on why Andy Burnham should be able to listen to The Smiths. Read the complete interview with Marr here.

A Liverpool concert on November 14 is next on Marr’s schedule, followed by a brief run of dates with stops in Mexico, São Paulo and Chile. His largest solo headline performance to date at OVO Arena Wembley had been planned for later this month, but has been postponed, with a replacement date yet to be announced.

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