Weezer "Pork and Beans"

Amid continued speculation as to the future of the band, Weezer release "Pork and Beans" from their sixth album, the eponymous Weezer.
Having had varying success with many of their album's - 2001's The Green Album being their most commercially and critically successful along with #1 singles "Beverly Hills" and "Perfect Situation" - Weezer seem to have combined their ever changing styles into this one crucible to come out with a single that evokes memories of both the stylistic grunge and thoughtful lyrics of Weezer records gone by.

The single opens to a sound more reminiscent of Beck than Rivers Cuomo's 90's outfit before the distortion kicks in and transports us to the type of simple guitar riffs we have grown to love and more importantly cherish, as it is never a certainty when the next LP will come.

Ultimately about the generic theme of kicking out at the petty social conventions we live by - "I'm gonna do things that I wanna do / I ain't got a thing to prove to you". Cuomo then delves deeper and has a sly dig at that ole enemy, the music industry "Timbaland knows the way to reach the top of the charts / Maybe if I work with then I can perfect the art". This cynical wit seems to come from the 16 years he has spent battling to get his music published, if anyone knows the hypocrisy and ideologies of the music industry then it is Cuomo himself. Even his voice, once shrill with angst over simpler themes of lost love, is now shrill with frustration and anger. This truly is a single that encompasses all that is good about Weezer's song writing. And in a more obscure way all that is good about music.

Theo