Weezer, Snuggies, and the Facade of "Being Cool"

What the fuck are Weezer doing to themselves?

I've asked this question to myself more than a few times over the past few years. When their third self-titled album came out two summers ago, I questioned the integrity of music. While acknowledging that two songs were pretty catchy, I dismissed the remainder as lame, hokey, and stupid. It was just hard for me to stomach that the genius behind Pinkerton now had a pedophile moustache, was trying to rap, and was churning out lyrics that rhymed "biotch" with "kids" (or... "kee-ods"?).

With shit like The Blue Album and Pinkerton, Weezer became well-respected musical artists, and since that time, they seem determined to destroy that reputation. Things like naming your new album Raditude, selling a Weezer Snuggie, and working with Katy Perry will make you not only the laughingstock of the rock industry, but also will greatly disappoint those angst-ridden teens you touched with tales of long-lost loves across the sea.

The bottom line is that Weezer has pretty much lost all credibility in the music community.

However, I'm starting to question the whole idea of "credibility" in music in the first place. When I start allowing myself to fall in love with songs like Shakira's "She Wolf" and Miley Cyrus's "Party in the USA," I have to question my own credibility as a listener. If I lack credible tastes in music, and yet the "uncool" music I hear still makes me feel good, then I'm forced to reconsider my outlook of music in general.

Take Weezer's new song "(If You're Wondering If I Want To) I Want To," a song that is right up there with the porks/beans and troublemakers. Rivers sings about hoping a girl makes the move, and the lyrics are just as impeccably terrible as always.

Yet, it is a damn catchy song. I'd gladly listen to it. Am I "cool" for listening to it? Of course not. My favorite music website, Pitchfork, would scorn if they knew one of their loyal readers was actively enjoying such a lame song. But fuck it! If I like the song, what's the big deal?

Life is better when you shed the facade of being a music lover for the sake of loving "cool" music. A lot of people wear their musical tastes on their sleeves, saying because they like such-and-such a band, they are better than other music lovers ('sup, hipsters).

The whole point of music, I'll stress, is to give an enjoyable experience to the listener. There was a time when I dismissed catchy Weezer songs because they were not cool enough. That time has passed.

So let Lil' Wayne rap on your album, Weezer. Sing about how "the girl got hot" and make it filled with illiterate rhyming couplets. Let grandma snuggle up with her Weezer Snuggie. I don't care anymore—I'm done with trying to be cool. Just keep making catchy tunes, and I'll back it.

Next up, Weezer and Miley Cyrus collaboration?