Patrick Wilson believes Weezer's upcoming self titled album strikes the perfect balance between the band's first two landmark records, saying it captures the focus of The Blue Album while matching the intensity of Pinkerton.
The drummer, who co founded Weezer alongside frontman Rivers Cuomo, shared his thoughts on the band's latest release during an interview with Rolling Stone.
“What’s great about the Blue Album is there’s no fat on any of it.
“Pinkerton is so bombastic and just explosive, and the Blue Album is just so focused. I really feel like this is the best happy medium of both of those.”
Wilson also revealed that he deliberately avoided using a click track while recording the album, saying he wanted the performances to feel more natural and dynamic.
“So much music now is just programmed and so compressed, and I instantly don’t care when I hear it.
“You get a certain kind of tightness when you’re not playing along to a click track.
“Not to compare myself to [drummer] Clyde Stubblefield, who’s an obvious genius, but James Brown recordings are tight in a way that quantised music is not tight. It breathes and moves, but it’s just so together.”
For the new record, Weezer worked with Swedish producer Klas Åhlund, whose previous collaborators include Ghost, as well as producer Kenny Blume, who has worked with Geese.
Blume played a key role in shaping the album's guitar sound by using a small Gibson amplifier from the 1940s.
Rivers Cuomo explained: “It looks like something you’d buy in a Sears catalog back in the mid 20th century.
“But if you turn it up all the way, it sounds brutal.
“It’s actually quite a bit like what our guitars sounded like before we made the Blue Album, before we started working with Ric Ocasek. It felt like coming home.”
Bassist Scott Shriner said Blume approached the sessions with one clear goal, making what he described as the heaviest Weezer album yet.
“Kenny brought this kind of educated thug vibe. He’s six foot seven, big solid dude, very physically intimidating and I just appreciate that.
“This guy’s a real force, he’s got the knowledge to back it up, and he’s a massive Weezer fan. In his words, he wanted to make the most violent Weezer record ever.”
The 10 track album marks Weezer's first studio release since 2021's Van Weezer and serves as the band's 16th studio album. It also continues the group's long running color themed series of self titled releases, which includes the Blue Album, Green Album, Red Album, White Album, Teal Album, and Black Album.
The new album is scheduled for release on August 21, just ahead of the launch of Weezer's The Gathering Tour next month.
