Weezer
Weezer
Geffen

On its own, Weezer's second self-titled release is a 29-minute pop/rock bonanza. The album starts things off with the deliciously '60s-pop-inflected "Don’t Let Go," a Kinks-esque song that even manages to throw an old-school synth into the mix. This is followed right up by "Photograph," which is probably one of the most happily derivative songs I have ever heard. From the classic handclaps to the high-pitched "oh-oh-oh," the only thing keeping our ears from complete sugar shock is the light crunch of the distorted guitars.

For the most part, the album keeps with this sort of formula (the first single, "Hash Pipe," is easily the most metal-ish song on the album). Standout tracks are "Island in the Sun," a classic Weezer minor-key song about escapism that sounds something along the lines of the Cars trying to do reggae — not much of a stretch, since Ric Ocasek produces the album — and "O Girlfriend," an absolutely beautiful track sung by Rivers Cuomo to (surprise) a girlfriend who just broke up with him. It's probably the album's most heartfelt song, and as Cuomo sings through, you can actually hear him trying not to let himself break down in front of her. It's also the longest song on the album, clocking in at a whopping 3:45. All in all, the album is quite an achievement.

But once you realize the album they made before this was Pinkerton, a lovely, lovely album, Weezer comes off as somewhat of a disappointment. Pinkerton, of course, was Weezer’s sophomore slump, but what a wonderful slump. The music on that album differed a little from the group's first album (in that Cuomo became audibly resilient to women, and started to use varied instruments such as piano and xylophone), and for some odd reason it just bombed.

With their third album (isn’t there a law against a band having more than one self titled release?), the band's jump back to more familiar territory seems almost knee-jerk. Superficially, the two self-titled albums share almost the exact same cover design. Both have a solid color background (blue the first time, green the second), and show the band standing around, employing dork chic to its highest extent.

To top things off, Cuomo himself gives the camera a defiant eye, guitar held prominently, as if to say "Hey, remember Pinkerton? Boy, what the hell was I thinking? No more of that nerd self-examination bullshit for me! It’s time to rock!" It’s a rather unfortunate jump back to the old, made more disappointing by the fact that the group's debut album is still far more interesting than this one, with songs that have much more memorable melodies. Listen to any two songs off the first self-titled, then listen to any two on the this one. See which songs you remember more of.

All that bashing aside, Weezer has its moments. The two tracks mentioned earlier are still excellent. And any new Weezer material is better than no new Weezer material. And simply the fact that the band released an album means it's back in the game. All in all, we Weezer fans should be happy to varying extents. The boys are back in town.

— Andrew VanZandt (symm1@hotmail.com)