Weezer: champions of rock, dabblers in pop

Weezer's Scott Shriner spreads the rock to the masses and his son.

By Joey Vergara

Published Aug. 28, 2009

Every band has its identity crisis. For most, it comes early in the game, in the band's formative years. For Weezer, it's native to every album the band releases.

Three years shy of its 20th anniversary, Weezer prepares to release its seventh album, the Rainn Wilson ("The Office") named Raditude. The question facing the band — and its identities — this time around, is simple: To rock, or not to rock?

This conflict, spurred on by front man Rivers Cuomo's newfound interest in working with outside pop songwriters, will be clearly on display on Raditude, an album made up of half pop songs and half rock. After a false alert in May when it seemed the album was complete, the chronically indecisive band decided to go back into the studio to experiment.

"I think we thought we were done a few months ago, but in typical Weezer fashion, we decided we weren't done yet," bassist Scott Shriner says from his hotel room in New York. "It seems like a long time, and it seems like two different records, but I'm kind of used to that. We've always kinda done it that way."

Cuomo's desire to try writing with different people led to the band bringing in his neighbor producer Butch Walker this summer to assemble a set of veritable pop anthems. But as the only tattooed and gold-toothed member of Weezer, Shriner's loyalties in the battle for rock are clear.

"My job is to try my best to keep the rock element happening in this band, no matter what Rivers feels like doing, to tell you the truth," Shriner says, in his traditionally mellow, friendly tone. "He sometimes gets into the more poppier stuff, and I'm always waving the flag for rock. That's just one of my roles in this band."

While the Walker-helmed tracks, including infectious lead single "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To," cater to Cuomo's curious case of pop fever, the other half of Raditude will be drawn from the songs Weezer recorded in late 2008 and early this year with Jacknife Lee. For every Jermaine Dupri-penned "Can't Stop Partyin'" or All-American Rejects collaboration ("Put Me Back Together"), there will be a "Run Over by a Truck" or "The Prettiest Girl," heavier songs that Shriner sounds audibly thrilled for people to hear.

With news of these developments comes the traditional Pitchfork pan and dismayed fan reaction. Weezer has gone through so many stylistic changes in the past eight years that fans look forward to each new album with simultaneous feelings of anticipation and dread. Shriner and the rest of Weezer face the challenge of not only pleasing themselves but also a fanbase as volatile as it is obsessive.

"I think it's important for everybody to do what they're excited about," Shriner says. "I would tell those fans to just wait till they hear a few more of these songs. So, do not be worried."

Shriner possesses the track record to back up his claim.

"I haven't done the same kind of record with these guys since we started," says Shriner, as his son begins to cry in the background. "He's got a hurt toe and new teeth coming in, so he's a little moody. We're getting along."

With four children between three members, Weezer tours have become a full-on rock 'n roll family vacation. For Shriner and wife Jillian Lauren, the addition of their son Tariku Moon, a nod to The Who's drummer, has made for a natural development in the touring lifestyle.

"To tell you the truth, being on tour by myself in hotel rooms has never really been that much fun for me," Shriner says. "I feel better with my little troop with me. I really love my family, and we're kinda traveling people, and our baby seems to fit right in with that."

Even with a name grounded in rock lore, little Tariku has his musical limits, as Shriner and Lauren learned at Coachella in April.

"It was just too crazy for a baby," Shriner says. "We had backstage passes, and we were there to see Paul McCartney, but it was just way too many people screaming and too many lights, and it freaked the baby out."

If last year's intensely intra-band collaborative Red Album and Raditude freak fans out with such extreme experimentation, they're not alone. Shriner and his pop-y band of rockers feel the same tension. In the end, though, this crisis is only a phase.

"There's parts of what we're doing these days that really, really get me happy and excited, and there's parts of it that I'm still a little bit on the fence about," Shriner says. "If people aren't into some of the stuff that's on this album, the next album will be completely different, and we're not going to stop making records any time soon. We're not going anywhere. To tell you the truth, I don't think we've ever been this focused on continuing to move forward than we are right now."