Weezer’s debut album is iconic, and that it’s affectionately dubbed ‘The Blue Album’ speaks volumes. It’s an influential alt-rock record centred around loneliness but all the while being fun and accessible, with  some brilliant melodic guitar work. It doesn’t really need much more of an introduction.
Twenty years on, every song on the record has been covered, with not even a B-side untouched. You Blew It! are putting out their own five-track tribute to mark the anniversary; the question is whether they’ve added anything to an already brilliant album, or has this ended up as another forgettable EP of punk covers?
The first glaring omission is ‘Say It Ain’t So’, but this is justifiable as the guitar riff is so pivotal to the song. Changing it in any way would be sacrilege – there are so many half-baked covers of the single – and it’s really quite difficult to add anything to what is already such a great track. ‘Buddy Holly’ is another one that didn’t make the cut, and while it’s a great pop-rock song, perhaps it doesn’t fit the melancholic mould that You Blew It! fill so well. The track-list is solid at first glance.
This rendition of ‘My Name Is Jonas’ shares the same riff as the original, albeit with a greater deal of fuzz and also with a noticeable lack of acoustic guitar. The result is a more tragic sounding song, with Tanner Jones’ voice being rougher around the edges than Rivers Cuomo’s. Considering the subject matter (a car crash), this is a fitting cover.
‘Surf Wax America’ is another one of Weezer’s faster-paced tracks that has been given a makeover, and the opening riff has been changed this time – it’s in a minor key – lending You Blew It’s emo sound to the song. The chorus is still hit hard by the band, but the ending is more subdued, substituting a line of power chords with a more pensive sounding melody. You Blew It! have managed to make these songs their own.
The EP starts with ‘In The Garage’, and while it has You Blew It! written all over the song, the nerdy, lonely feeling of the original stays intact – it’s a case of the band refusing to add another cook to the broth – with nothing spoiled or ruined. Admittedly, ‘Only In Dreams’ was a song that I skipped over a lot, with nearly eight-minutes of slow-rambling that wasn’t as enjoyable. Oddly enough, it does work better as a melodic emo song – fuzzy guitar solo included and all. Finally, ‘Susanne’ is an acoustic cover of one of the Blue Album’s B-sides and it feels like a tongue-in-cheek love song, exactly how it should. At times during the track there’s a discordant feeling between vocals and guitar; fitting for a song which is a humorous thank-you to a PA at Geffen Records rather than a full-on love song.
As with all cover-albums, ‘You Blue It!’ fills a niche of sorts, but You Blew It! haven’t messed with Weezer’s seminal album too much. It’s a great tribute and if anything it’ll provide an itch to revisit Weezer’s debut LP. Furthermore, by filling this EP with their distinctive, emo-driven sound, You Blew It! will surely have stoked a hankering for more of their own music.
SAMARTH KANAL