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Weezer: On Growing Old And Staying Young
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Weezer is one of the most consistently beloved and reviled rock bands of the past 20 years. The group recently released Hurley, its eighth studio album, and although Weezer is working with collaborators this time around, it's stayed true to its classic sound. Frontman Rivers Cuomo says Hurley offers a look back to the alt-rock of the 1990s.
The album cover will be recognizable to fans of the television series Lost: It's the face of actor Jorge Garcia, who played the character Hurley. Cuomo says there's not a lot of meaning behind choosing Garcia's face for the image. One day, Cuomo crossed paths with the actor while shooting a TV show and asked to take a picture with him.
"Weeks later," Cuomo tells NPR's Guy Raz, "I was looking at the picture and I just noticed his face had so much warmth and love and good vibes coming off of it. So we zoomed in on his face and cropped me out of it altogether. And there's our album cover."
The songs on Hurley frequently reference getting older. Cuomo is now 40, and "Memories," for example, is about the way things used to be.
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"I was reminiscing about the time when Weezer was on tour in Europe and getting into all kinds of trouble," he says.
Although many have applauded Weezer for staying committed to its sound and style, some have called the band immature. Cuomo says he just writes about whatever is going on in his mind.
"I suspect that plenty of people that are 40 years old like myself still have immature voices in their head," he says. "They just don't express them. I like to give expression to whatever's going on."
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