I recently had a conversation with my brother about the best Weezer album (because that’s what brothers do during quarantine). That turned out to be a pretty easy decision, but looking at their discography is like looking at the best and worst of alternative rock. Weezer is an interesting band. They burst upon the scene in the mid-90s with immediately catchy songs that gave voice to every dorky kid in the nation. And the thing is that they rocked pretty hard too. Rivers Cuomo is one of the best melodicists of the past couple decades, and has a naturally great singing voice to back it up. He and Brian Bell’s guitar playing nods toward both 70s hard rock and classic power pop, and the band has a uniquely quirky sense of humor about themselves that is undeniably endearing.

At the same time, those very same positive qualities often produce truly baffling music. At some point Rivers decided he wanted to be a pop star, and their music took a noticeable turn toward the lightweight. His songwriting became more superficial, losing the honesty that makes their best stuff so worthwhile. And their humor just began to come off as cringeworthy, like they were trying way too hard.

As such it has become fashionable over the past few years to dismiss Weezer. And yet… they’ve kind of undergone a late career renaissance, consolidating their musical identities into one that is different, yes, but also entertaining. The story of Weezer is what you expect from a bunch of geeks who become rock stars: they constantly veer from reacting to critical perception to sticking to their guns, experimenting yet trying to honor their classic sound.