"I still felt unseen and unheard and misunderstood and lonely"

You learn something new every day - and today it was that Rivers Cuomo maintains a spreadsheet called "The Encyclopedia o'Riffs" and was originally in a Yngwie Malmsteen-inspired hair metal band called Avant Garde.

I've not really bothered with Weezer for years, but as a big fan of both their first two albums and Stevie Chick's Guardian features, I read this one with interest.

Cuomo was never your average frontman: raised in a Buddhist ashram, self-confessedly nerdy, fled to Harvard at the height of the band's fame to escape the pressure. Musicians aren't immune to anxiety and self-doubt, but what's particularly interesting in this interview is the sense of responsibility that Cuomo evidently feels towards his bandmates as Weezer's chief songwriter. That their immediate and continued success is largely in his hands clearly weighs heavy on his mind. On the new album (once again self-titled), that seems to have translated into a focus on giving the fans what they want.

2026 also marks the 30th anniversary of Pinkerton. It remains a difficult album, especially after the bubblegum pop-grunge of the self-titled debut, but Chick is right to signal its redemption arc, with critics as well as fans.