Thirty years on from the Blue Album, Weezer have survived the expectations, anniversaries, and released enough coloured album covers to fill a rainbow. Now, with their 20th album, aptly titled (but known as the Gold Album), they’re entering a shiny, new shade of their story. The question, then, is what follows a band’s Gold era?

“Platinum,” drummer Pat Wilson laughs. “We have to go platinum, I believe. What did Rivers say the other day? That the metals and the colours – was it a D&D thing? We’re moving on to metals, I guess!”

Three decades into their career, Weezer are still more interested in what comes next than polishing the past. The Gold Album arrives after the band’s huge 30th anniversary celebration for the Blue Album, which saw them play the record in full on a sold-out tour. Rather than retreat into nostalgia, Weezer returned to a rehearsal room in Orange County and went back to basics: four members in a room, writing together and figuring out where to go next.

“With 20 albums, it’s always some album’s anniversary,” bass player Scott Shriner says. “Something is always going on, but I feel like we’re moving forward.”

That sense of forward motion makes Gold an interesting colour for Weezer. It suggests achievement and longevity, but also value. This isn’t a band simply preserving the jewels of their back catalogue; they’re still trying to add to it. Their new record is unmistakably Weezer, but the process was more collaborative than ever, with the four members writing and shaping songs together before taking them into the studio with producers and (previously ). However, Kenny had set himself the ambitious task of making “the most violent Weezer album ever”. For Scott, however, “violent” is a bit understood.

“I don’t really think of it as like violence or so much as danger or a threat… There’s some moments where [the album] shifts tempos and stuff, and that’s something that we haven’t gotten in a long time. So I think ‘violence’ is more ‘danger’ and ‘unpredictable’ than ‘destruction’…”

That unpredictability was encouraged in the studio. There’s no click track, no grid and no pitch correction; the band played together live, allowing the songs to breathe rather than sanding away every rough edge. “We’re all pretty pleased,” says Pat. “I hope more bands record this way because it absolutely gives it a better feel.”

For Scott, that excitement is rooted in something simple: he remains a Weezer fan.

“I’m a different person now, physically and emotionally and everything, from when I first joined the band. The thing that’s the same is that I’m still a huge fan of the band. When I came in, they’d already had three records done. I was a listener and a fan. Every day like, ‘Oh my God, we get to play these songs!’ You know? I still have some of that which is fun.”

That fan mentality may well be one of the secrets to Weezer’s longevity. They know their history, they know the expectations, but they’re still curious about what happens when they step outside them. Pat explains, “I just want to make cool records; that’s why I’m in it, and it’s fortunate that other people seem to like it.” He laughs. “If I had been in charge of what we did, every record would have sounded like ‘Only in Dreams.’ But I’m glad that that’s not the case.”

Gold also finds Weezer having fun with the expectations attached to being Weezer. Track ‘C.E.O.’ takes aim at the idea of continually churning out another ‘90s jam while audiences wait for the next familiar classic. It’s a knowing joke about the strange position the band now occupies: expected to evolve while simultaneously being asked to recreate the songs people first fell in love with decades ago. But Scott isn’t worried about becoming his own tribute act. 

“We play the songs different every night.” Then comes the laugh. “We’re always making some group of fans mad. So, no, I don’t feel a pressure. Somebody’s not gonna be happy, probably.”

It’s a very Weezer attitude to have after three decades: you can’t please everyone, so you might as well keep moving. Even Gold’s history contains pieces of Weezer’s past being repurposed for the present. ‘The LA Sound’, for example, was originally written around the time of the White album but was shelved because the producer at the time “wasn’t into hearing bands do songs about being in a band”. Now, decades later, Weezer are entirely comfortable examining their own existence. If anything, Gold feels more like a reset. Three decades, 20 albums and an entire spectrum of colours later, Weezer still seem most interested in the simplest question: does it feel good?

For now, the answer is clearly yes.

“We had a good time making this record, and we’re still having fun and excited to play the new songs and tour. I think we found a good rhythm, so we’re gonna try to keep that going and maybe just take it a little bit further with the writing together and experimentation,” says Pat.

And if Gold is where Weezer are now, what comes next?

“There are folders that are being filled right now,” says Pat. “Who knows, but it’s definitely in the cards.”

“It could even be a double live album…”

Platinum, then. Or perhaps another colour. Whatever comes next, Weezer don’t sound like a band approaching the end of their story. If these really are their golden years, they’re treating them less like a victory lap and more like a new beginning. After all, the best way to celebrate the past is to give the future something worth remembering.

‘Weezer’ / The Gold Album is out now.

Words: e
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