All My Favourite Songs is a classic bit of Rivers, as is Aloo Gobi. And what you notice is that you haven’t noticed much different. Even without the fuzzy guitars, the intent and energy of these songs is still communicated with a clear, silky musical articulacy, sounding far better and more natural than when they’ve previously stepped out of normal rock mode and put themselves through an electronic filter. Instead of a big guitar riff, Grapes Of Wrath proudly announces itself with a cello. Where normally there would be a wall of distortion, the chorus of Numbers instead rises on the back of cinematic strings from a sepia-edged age of Hollywood. Play My Piano is almost like prime Elton John.
So it goes. It harks back to classic touchstones without being obvious or simply repeating what’s gone before. It quietly takes you away, not to Sunset Boulevard as we may have been expecting, but a more timeless California, a carefree place of open-topped cars, twinkly-eyed dreams and innocent romance blossoming under a warm night sky. Most importantly, it works its magic seamlessly.
After the disappointment of Pacific Daydream, the not-quite-as-good-as-it-could-have-been Teal covers album, and the lousy waste of a title that was The Black Album, it is a wonderful thing to hear Weezer still actually sounding like Weezer here. That they’ve achieved this while pushing their creative boundaries with an orchestra only underlines it. And the best part is, when the time is right and we go back to stadiums again, they’ve still got what promises to be the perfect album to celebrate with left in the chamber.
Verdict: 4/5
For Fans Of: Ash, Fleetwood Mac, Green Day
OK Human is released on January 29 via Atlantic.
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