If WEEZER’s recent release HURLEY was supposed to be a throwback to the band’s 1990’s glory days, then DEATH TO FALSE METAL just might be the time machine project that inspired it.
Not a traditional “from the vaults” collection of unreleased tracks that the band recorded during their stay at Geffen Records, the band took the basic outline for 10 unreleased tracks and returned to the studio earlier this year to give them a final touch-up to craft them into “the album that should logically follow ‘Hurley,’ ” said frontman Rivers Cuomo in an interview with the Oakland Press. The end result is a polished album that fits well into the WEEZER catalog, despite it’s very un-Weez-like cover art.
With “Turning up the Radio” and “I Don’t Want Your Loving” kicking off the album in pitch-perfect WEEZER style, it becomes clear that this record is not a batch of throwaways, but some genuinely great songs. “Everyone” is a meaty cut that recalls some of the heavy guitars that found their way onto MALADROIT. Their cover of TONI BRAXTON’s “Un-break My Heart” is not the type of tongue-in-cheek affair that one might expect based on the source material, but a straight-forward and heart-felt rendition. The album closer “Mykel and Carli” is likely a Blue Album outtake, with it’s down-stroked guitars recalling the band’s earliest recorded works.
Overall, DEATH TO FALSE METAL is the second fantastic release from WEEZER for 2010, and a welcome addition to the sonic catalog of a band that is fast-becoming more relevant now than they were when they hit the scene nearly two decades ago.
Rating: 4/5
