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For Weezer, 'Happy Days' definitely here
Author: Vinnie Penn (Connecticut Post)
Published: December 2, 1994
Remember when Chachi used to play the drums on "Happy Days?" Or when Richie would wail a mean sax solo? Or how about when those neo-rockers Weezer jammed at Arnold's?
Can't recall that last one? Then turn on MTV or VH-1 anytime soon, where Weezer's latest video, the pop-tart ode "Buddy Holly," can be seen with the band grooving as Fonzie. Richie, and the gang are moving.
"We all grew up saturated with television," says Weezer bassist Matt Sharp in a telephone interview. "Definitely too much of it, and it snuck in and stuck in our heads. There was multiple amounts of 'Happy Days'."
Thanks to some nifty camera work, a la "Forrest Gump", director Spike Jonze has weaved together a clip that can make the ultimate '70s viewer ponder if an episode of the long-running classic sitcom could have eluded them.
But most of the real genius associated with Weezer screeches to a halt right there amidst the camera trickery. Incomprehensible lyrics are sucked into a whirlpool of guitar crunches, albeit hook-laden, throughout their entire debut on the Geffen label. And while tracks like "Buddy Holly" and "Say It Ain't So" have an undeniable slacker swirl, it's slacker nonetheless.
"When we got together to do this we all s.... pretty much, showing that we had paid no attention to our instruments over the years." Sharp reveals. "But our getting together was about doing something we love, not getting a record deal. I didn't really know what I wanted to do at the time. I didn't even care anymore."
But get a record deal they did, even landing ex-Cars driver Ric Ocasek as producer after lead singer Rivers Cuomo off-handedly sent a tape of the band's music to him.
"Ric and Rivers have a lot of similarities. And while we don't really sound like the Cars, we did listen to 'Just What I Needed' and thought, 'wow, this is just like us'. We are like them a bit melodically, I guess, and we're all down-stroking like they did, but we're much harder. This isn't 1982, though." No. this is 1994, where a song like "Undone... The Sweater Song," boasting lyrics such as, "If you want to destroy my sweater, pull this thread as I walk away." can be considered cutting edge.
In regard to the profoundly puzzling refrain, Sharp became equally obtuse, saying, "I don't think it's right for me to discuss a song that someone else wrote [Cuomo gets the credit]. People just misconstrue things anyway. It's all metaphors, though, I can tell you that much. If you had Rivers on the line, he probably wouldn't give a meaning behind it either. It's whatever you want it to mean."
Sharp is a songwriter himself, moonlighting in a band that goes under the moniker The Rentals. To hear him tell it, each member of Weezer has a side gig and a steno pad.
"Doing other projects keeps us sane and also keeps the band lighter," he explains. "This way there's no jealousy. Lyrically, this record is exclusively Rivers'. And the next one probably will be, too. I've just recorded six singles with my other band, The Rentals."
He elaborates on their perfunctory playing with a tale of how a flu-stricken Cuomo, bed-ridden in Salt Lake City, "just couldn't sing. So the rest of us guitarist Brian Bell and drummer Patrick Wilson) filled the set with some punk cover tunes and whatever. Nothing off the record other than 'The Sweater Song,' which the three of us sang together as an encore. It's like a camp fire song, so it was easy to pull off. A couple of days later I ran into a girl who was at the show and she was totally into it. That was a big help to our egos."
Weezer has already passed through the state once, and the Sting in particular, opening for the band Live a few months back. The familiarity provides no comfort to Sharp, who worried about his band's ability to fill the venue, a tinge of nervousness that clashes with his and his bandmate's norm of insouciance. But it evaporates immediately as he describes their set: "We'll probably put our songs into a hat and pull out what we end up playing. Literally."
Weezer plays the Sting in New Britain on Sunday For more information, call 225-2154.
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