Rivers flows nicely on “Alone II”
“Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo”
Rivers Cuomo, $13.98
There are so many reasons to love Rivers Cuomo. The guy can’t wear a mustache without looking like a ’70s porn star, but he’s wonderfully strange, a nerd-girl’s fantasy, and has composed some of the greatest music of my era.
As Weezer’s frontman, he’s become established in the music industry, enough to garner some interest in his solo projects. Enter “Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo,” his 2007 album of demos he recorded at home over a 15-year period of time. You get some original versions of songs that eventually manifested as Weezer hits, and some other interesting tracks that would fare well with the full band treatment.
“Alone II,” released this week, isn’t superior in its entirety, but I’m taking a greater shine to it than I did the first. Maybe it’s because every track is one that I haven’t already heard done better by the whole band, but I have a feeling that there are a couple of songs on this one that surpass all the songs on the previous record.
Though the album gets sort of blah near the middle, it starts off strong and ends even stronger, with three really great tracks in a row. Simplistic as it is, Cuomo knows how to make a beautiful melody that’s easy to sing along to. On “I Want to Take You Home Tonight,” he grinds out a series of crunchy guitar chords with a basic drumbeat, but he pulls it off as a pretty fine song. He goes all Ben Folds on “My Day is Coming,” albeit a bit more somber, despite its life-affirming lyrics. With the same bouncing beat as “Keep Fishin’,” a single from Weezer’s 2002 record “Maladroit,” “I’ll Think About You” really showcases the style that made Cuomo’s band so famous.
Somewhere in the middle, Cuomo covers a Beach Boys tune (and one of my personal favorites!), “Don’t Worry Baby.” Now, I could never say it’s better than the original, but if there’s any band he can best emulate, it’s the Beach Boys. Cuomo is to surf-rock what Meg Ryan is to romantic comedies. He’s just got the voice for it.