It’s a departure from Weezer’s Pavement-by-way-of-Yngwie guitar riffs. There’s also sweet vulnerability in Cuomo’s words—away from his routine sarcasm as an emotional shield. He famously ...

Indeed, Cuomo’s ideal songs are loaded with three distinct things: big, dumb feelings, sticky, whistle-able melodies, and even bigger, dumber guitar riffs. That's the formula Weezer synthesized ...