If the path that led Rivers Cuomo to write “What’s with these homies dissing my girl?/ Why do they gotta front?” ended shortly after the success of single “Buddy Holly,” Weezer would have been frozen in time as part of the ’90s alt-rock era. Fortunately, Cuomo is endlessly inquisitive, self-challenging and creatively prolific.
Cuomo’s most recent songwriting cycle resulted in the SZNZ EPs, with the fourth and final recording, Winter, released in December. It’s some of Cuomo’s best work. That’s saying a lot for someone who’s written nearly 1,000 songs and made some missteps along the way but eventually found critical acclaim and became a messianic figure to Weezer fans.
Raised on a Connecticut ashram called Yogaville, Cuomo immersed himself in early ’80s metal by the likes of Judas Priest and Quiet Riot after discovering Kiss. He became a guitar shredder with dreams of making it big in Hollywood.
The young man went west to attend music school, but received an unexpected education when he got a job at Tower Records. He warmed up to the burgeoning indie and alternative rock scenes and met bassist Matt Sharp and drummer Patrick Wilson.
They formed Weezer, got a major label deal and asked the late Ric Ocasek to produce. The result was the 1994 self-titled debut album that contained the first song to garner radio play in “Undone (The Sweater Song),” but it was “Buddy Holly” that gave them job security. The video, directed by Spike Jonze, became iconic and firmed up a foundation of success Weezer could build upon.
Sophomore album Pinkerton received mixed reviews but was embraced by committed fans and was eventually critically re-evaluated by the music press. More radio hits would come in 2001 with “Hash Pipe” and “Beverly Hills” in 2005. After 30 years of existence, Weezer is a headlining act on a path to Australia in October to play a concert with Kiss. It’s a dream come true for the boy from Yogaville with Buddy Holly glasses.
Planet Hollywood Resort, 7 p.m. Sept. 1, starting at $54 plus tax and fee. ticketmaster.com
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