Weezer - Blue Album

There's a demented pop fanaticism to Weezer you gotta love. Weezer's debut, produced by former Cars frontman Ric Ocasek, combines Pixies roller-coaster guitar rides with a helping of Beatles-esque moptop harmonies. Ocasek's production and Weezer's strong material will bring a glimmer of recognition to the eyes of anyone who remembers the Cars' melodic pop hooks. Weezer's songs are groovy garage sales you wish happened every weekend.

Songs like The World Turned and Left Me Here and Surf Wax America betray the heart of a kid who would rather skateboard to work every day than face up to the responsibility of buying a car. Rivers Cuomo's wit and songwriting chops are evident in In the Garage, where he sums up his generation's fascination with kitsch pop culture.

Cuomo readily makes fun of Kiss posters and his own Stupid Words and Stupid Songs, but later, in Say it Ain't so, his self-mocking seems more like self-protection. After a decade of divorced parents, Cuomo comes to terms with a childhood he didn't want to give up. 'Dear daddy i write you in spite of years of silence,' he admits, begging him to Say it Ain't so. Weezer breathes life into the bloated corpse of guitar rock. if they'd only stay little till their pop records wore out, maybe more bands would be as enjoyable as Weezer.