Rivers Cuomo - from geek rock underdog to corporate rock whore
by Nick Moreton
See that?
That's a graph showing Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo's 'tweets' per month. Up until September Cuomo was, at best, an infrequent user of social networking site twitter, occasionally posting the odd tweet in Japanese, or declaring his love for Soccer.
All good, until October, one month before the scheduled release of Weezer's new album 'Raditude', when Cuomo's tweets leapt to 200 per month from 40 per month. Only a 500% increase then. Nothing for us to get cynical about there.
I follow Cuomo, and this increase in activity was so obvious, so calculated, that I didn't need a graph to tell me what was going on.
What really gets to me, what really grates, is that this behaviour is indicative of what Weezer have become as a band.
Early albums Weezer (Blue album) and Pinkerton became alt-rock classics due to raw open lyrics sang with classic pop melodies over thick, layered guitars. It became the mid 90s alt-rock blueprint.
And it sold. Because it was real.
Kids like me related to it. Rivers couldn't quite hit the notes, but hey, neither could I. Rivers never quite got the girl, but hey, neither did I.
The last two Weezer albums, Make Believe and Red, have been anything but 'real'. They have been calculated moves in order to sell records. Videos featuring Hugh Hefner, references to internet 'memes' to create a 'viral' vide, pointless nonsense lyrics that would never offend the retailers nor excite a listener.
No heart, no songs, no point.
Which brings us right back to the leap in twitter posts - A calculated move to increase interest ahead of a record release.
Well done Rivers, I'm sure you've made the record label very happy, but as with your recent musical output this only serves to alienate a former die hard fan even further.
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