Weezer Do State Farm Jingle

Weezer continue to supply the WTF moments. Their latest move is to record a jingle for State Farm Insurance. State Farm seems to be aggressively pursuing youth and coolness, judging from their latest ads, where young guys and gals make anything they desire magically appear simply by saying "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there".

The other part about this is, amazingly, this State Farm jingle performed by Weezer manages to sound like one of their best songs in years. Ridiculous.

Watch it on YouTube

Weezer - Death to False Metal

Because Weezer aren't satisfied unless they've made you say WTF to their choice of album title + artwork at least TWICE in a matter of 3 months, they present to us their rarities collection Death to False Metal.

The album title is obviously firmly tongue-in-cheek.  Weezer have flirted with the idea of metal before - in their fourth album Maladroit most notably.  We know that frontman Rivers Cuomo used to (still does?) worship KISS.  Weezer's image and stage show, with the giant flashing W, could be seen as either a parody or straight up homage to metal, depending on how ironic you think Weezer really are.  (To hear Rivers tell it, nothing his band has ever done has been ironic).

So the title I get, but I can't even begin to explain that 'fall harvest' artwork above.  Anyways, this is a collection of odds + ends spanning Weezer's career, a bunch of b-sides.  Here's hoping there are a few lost gems in the mix.  I already have a TON of Weezer songs on my iTunes that won't be found on an official album (Suzanne, Living Without You, and Yellow Camaro are some good ones).

Here's the tracklisting:

1. 'Turning Up the Radio'
2. 'I Don't Want Your Loving'
3. 'Blowin' My Stack'
4. 'Losing My Mind'
5. 'Everyone'
6. 'I'm a Robot'
7. 'Trampoline'
8. 'Odd Couple'
9. 'Autopilot'
10. 'Un-Break My Heart'

Weezer - Blinkerton Tour

Weezer have announced that on their latest tour, which they're calling the 'Memories' tour, the band will perform two nights at every location.  On the first night, they will perform their first album, the self-titled now referred to as The Blue Album (as the band has two other self-titled records, Green and Red) in its entirety.  On the second night, they will give the same treatment to their second album Pinkerton.  This is especially exciting because the band has largely 'disavowed' the classic Pinkerton for much of their career.

On both nights, the band will play a 'greatest hits' selection in addition to the featured album.

Even though I don't hate new Weezer enough to raise $10 million to get them to stop (like this guy James Burns is trying to do), this is great news for Weezer fans, as these first two albums (Blue + Pinkerton = Blinkerton) are indisputably their greatest work.  I've never had the pleasure of seeing Weezer perform live, and now seems like the best time.

I'm not sure which night I would choose if I could only go to one. Ideally, one would hit both dates.

Weezer's Blinkerton tour dates announced thus far:

November 26-27 – Los Angeles, CA – Gibson Amphitheater
November 29-30 – San Francisco, CA – Knob Hill Masonic Auditorium
December 14-15 – Boston, MA – Orpheum Theatre
December 17-18 – New York, NY – Roseland Ballroom
January 7-8 – Chicago, IL – Aragon Entertainment Center

Weezer - 'Hurley' Cover

So...how do you top an album with a flying dog on the cover named Raditude in terms of ridiculousness?

How about a closeup of the face of that pudgy dude Hurley from LOST on the cover, and the album's called Hurley?

Nailed it.

Weezer, I will always love you, but you don't make it easy.

Hurley drops September 14.

last.fm Artists 16-20

16. Weezer - 459 plays
I have loved Weezer for a long time.  Power pop nerd rock heroes!  Like fellow 90's originating phenomenon The Simpsons, Weezer are well past their prime.  My favorite part of Raditude was their cover medley of MGMT's "Kids" and Lady Gaga's "Poker Face", and that was one of the bonus tracks.

Nonetheless, I am glad Weezer are still around, still making records, still touring.  The Blue Album is pretty much perfect.  And Pinkerton is incredibly powerful.  I dig a few tunes off of The Green Album, and I think I loved Maladroit more than anyone.

17. Wavves - 441 plays
I listened to Wavvves a lot, for a while there.  New songs "Mickey Mouse" and "Cool Jumper" got a bunch of spins too.

18. A.C. Newman - 416 plays
The New Pornographers is definitely a team, but this dude still seems like the captain.  Anyway, his first solo album The Slow Wonder is pop perfection.  Get Guilty didn't best it, but it would have been hard for any follow-up to do so.

19. Radiohead - 401 plays
In Rainbows really is a damn good album.  And of course OK Computer is a classic.  I don't know if Kid A is the absolute best album to be released in the 00's, as multiple lists have claimed, but it's up there, definitely one of the most monumental.

20. The Raconteurs - 396 plays
Jack White doing power pop inflected rock with a full band!  Sign me up.  Loved their performance at Terminal 5 a couple years back.

"Steady, As She Goes", "Salute Your Solution" and "Consoler of the Lonely" can be added to White's list of anthems.

RS Most Underrated Album of the Decade Part 3

RS Most Underrated Album of the Decade

So here's the full list:

Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
My Chemical Romance - Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge
Dixie Chicks - Taking the Long Way
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
U2 - How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb

I've covered Hail to the Thief (it's a great album, but nothing Radiohead have ever released can really be considered underrated) and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (weak album from a majorly overrated band).

My Chemical Romance...nope.  I've listened to that album, it's not some hidden gem.

Dixie Chicks...I'll have to sit this one out.  Not a country fan.  If you say that particular Dixie Chicks album is overrated, I'll take your word for it.

There's actually one I agree with!  My friend Jamie certainly does not share this opinion, but I'd say Show Your Bones by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs is underrated.

It's still the weakest of their 3 albums, but it's damn good.  Yeah Yeah Yeahs have a fantastic debut in Fever to Tell, with that raw punk garage energy.  And "Maps", which is one helluva song.  2009's It's Blitz! is their foray into some more dancey material, and I love it.  Show Your Bones falls somewhere in between, and it's more of a straightforward rock record, with some acoustic guitar thrown in there.

I recognized "Maps" as an awesome song years ago, but I only really became a big fan of the YYYs in the past year or so.  Since then I've been listening to 'em plenty, and I have to say that all 3 of their albums are essential, including Show Your Bones.  Gold Lion, Way Out, Phenomena, and Cheated Hearts are all fantastic tunes.

My best guess as to why Show Your Bones has been underrated...Fever to Tell was just a tough act to follow.

Here are some of my nominations of underrated albums from this decade:

Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Beck - Guero
Deerhunter - Microcastle
The New Pornographers - Challengers
of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping
Weezer - Maladroit
Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer