SZNZ: Autumn

The third installment of Weezer’s *SZNZ* project is, by Rivers Cuomo’s own description, the dance one. Think The Strokes, Franz Ferdinand, Blondie: bands classified as rock, but whose clean, bright sound feels closer to what we think of as pop. Where else can you hear someone sing about sadomasochism while a string section quotes Vivaldi (“Tastes Like Pain”) or the parable of the Garden of Eden set to the Vegas-ready shuffle of Neil Diamond (“Should She Stay or Should She Go”)? The answer is nowhere. You don’t have to understand the rabbit hole the band has become, but you can’t help but respect its depth.

My deepest sympathies to any Weezer completists out there. At this point, the band's output is a bit like the fantasy tabletop RPGs they onc...

Eighteen months ago, Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo teased that the band’s principal directive for SZNZ: Autumn was to produce dark, angst-ridden ‘dance-rock’ - Franz Ferdinand were cited as a key influence.