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Oct 22, 2014 Web Exclusive By Dan Lucas

You’re reading a Weezer review. Ergo, you’re a geek, you spend time on the Internet, and you know what a troll is. Well, Rivers Cuomo has stopped trolling his fans: this is a return to “serious” (or as close to it as he ever got) songwriting from Weezer. Gone are the gimmicks, the novelty songs, and the bizarre collaborations. Instead, Everything Will Be Alright in the End is the sound of a man clamouring for Blue like one of Walter White’s customers.

“I thought I’d get a new audience, I forgot that disco sucks/I ended up with nobody and I started feeling dumb,” sings Rivers on the lead single “Back to the Shack,” a self-aware attempt at “rocking out like it’s ‘94.” The album is a straight attempt at recapturing the glory years of the 1990s, switching between power chord-heavy headbangers such as “Back to the Shack” and “I’ve Had it Up to Here” and surf-waxed power pop such as the Bethany Constatino duet “Go Away” (the best thing the Best Coast singer has ever done) and highlight “Lonely Girl.” The staccato acoustic riff on “Da Vinci” is also strongly reminiscent of “El Scorcho.”

Speaking of the riffs, there’s sadly nothing here as brilliant as any of the 12 tracks on Blue, but in terms of tone and style the new material will slot nicely into a live setting. Weezer’s fans may be 20 years older now, but this is the band’s best album since the turn of the millennium. As an exercise in nostalgia, it’s perfectly accomplished. (www.weezer.com)

Author rating: 7/10