October 17, 2009
Rivers Cuomo and Katy Perry: Say It Ain’t So
IN THE NEWS
The music industry has always been a double-edged knife to Weezer. Sure, nowadays The Blue Album and Pinkerton are put on towering pedestals – with almost any critic, musician or guy off the street having their own teary eyed soliloquy on the first time they heard “The Sweater Song” – but when the band first came out they were met with critical scorn. Upon the arrival of Blue, Weezer was bafflingly labeled as posers by many critics (probably with the brilliant logic that they weren’t “grunge” enough). When people finally started to give Blue a chance, it only led to the widespread misconception that the insanely good Pinkerton was a just sophomore dud. For reference, Rolling Stone gave that record three stars when it came out, with readers voting it the second worse album of the year. Pretty harsh, especially when thinking of all the terrible shit that Rolling Stone gave three stars in 1996, such as Hootie and Blowfish’s Fairweather Johnson or the Fugees’ The Score …wait, that album’s a classic…fucking Rolling Stone.
By the time critics were swearing by Weezer’s first two albums, many had mercilessly turned on the band, bashing Maladroit, Make Believe (quite understandably), and even The Green Album. It never seemed fair to Rivers Cuomo: he was labeled an alt-rock legend, but was always a step behind the hip spotlight he so deserved. Now, after years of abuse, it looks like he is taking his revenge against the music industry, and he’s using one hell of a cruel knife: Katy Perry.
Watch New Girls Video For Girls Highlight “Laura,” Which Is Like a Really Hip, Joyous Version of the Opening to The Brady Bunch…Only With More Tattoos (Maybe; They Rarely Took of Their Shirts on That Show) [NME]
Dancey Portland Band Starfucker (Who, You May Remember, Was Unhappy With Their NSFW Band Name) Changes Name to PYRAMID; Elsewhere (Specifically in North Carolina), There Is Already a Band Called Pyramid [Brooklyn Vegan]
Brooding UK Indie Band Editors Launch Their Own Version of Google Street View, With Specific Locations Playing Songs From Their New Album, In This Light and On This Evening — This Is Probably A Lot Cooler For Someone Even Remotely Familiar With London’s Geography [NME]
Weezer Frontman Rivers Cuomo To Sit Down and Write Songs With Katy Perry Next Week; Possible Results: “I Kissed a God Damn Half-Japanese Girl,” “Only In Ur Dreams,” “Waking Up In The Garage (If You Want To Destroy My Career)” [Pitchfork]
Courtney Love Owes Over $300,000 In Back Taxes, Shuts Down Her Twitter Account – Two Stories Unrelated, As Twitter Is Free Service [Prefix]
New Zealand Innocuously Good Indie Poppers The Ruby Suns Announce New Album; Fight Softly Released March, 2010 [You Ain’t No Picasso]
Stream Bon Iver’s Final Concert; In Other News, Bon Iver’s Hiatus Very Temporary, I Get Bombastic In Attempt to Cause Controversy On Our Website [Radio Milwaukee]
Stream Title Track From Brooklyn’s Acrylics’ Upcoming EP All of the Fire; Produced by Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor (And Released on Terrible Records, His Label), EP Released October 28 [Jezebel Music]
Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox To Release Bonus EP With Atlas Sound LP Logos When Ordered From Rough Trade; I Haven’t Looked Into Yet, But Knowing Cox’s Security Practices, EP Probably Leaked Before It Was Even Recorded [Pitchfork]
Guard Arrested For Assaulting a Fan Taking Pictures at House of Blues Chicago; Weirdly, Assault Took Place at Hanson Concert – And What Else Is There To Do When Seeing Hanson, Except Twittering Pictures of Hanson, Still In Disbelief They Have Songs Other Than “Mmmbop” [Idolator]
Baritone California Mope-Folker Mark Everett, AKA Eels, AKA Mr. E, AKA E, To Release Basement Tapes Album; End Times Released January 18 [NME]
compiled by Max Sebela
