0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
WASHINGTON, DC – Weezer--the alternative rock band responsible for self-deprecating anthems like Buddy Holly, The Sweater Song, and Beverly Hills--has been releasing albums since 1994, but a sizable percentage of the band's fan base thinks they should have hung it up about 10 years ago. Seattle resident James Burns isn't a fan, but he shares this view: this week, Burns launched a campaign on grassroots fund-raising site The Point to collect $10 million to get Weezer to break up. Thus far, his efforts have generated about $200 and untold amounts of media attention.I'm Doing This for the Fans, insists Burns. "Every year, [singer] Rivers Cuomo swears that he's changed, and that their new album is the best thing that he's done since 'Pinkerton,' and what happens? Another pile of crap like 'Beverly Hills' or 'I'm Your Daddy,'" reads Burns's statement at The Point. "This is an abusive relationship, and it needs to stop now. I am tired of my friends being disappointed year after year." For context, Pinkerton is a 1996 album widely regarded as a classic, and Beverly Hills and I'm Your Daddy are songs whose canonical status is... less ironclad.Interesting Idea, Bad Execution, declares Amos Barshad at New York Magazine. "Weezer is still rolling out dates for the snob-pleasing Memories Tour, where they'll be playing Pinkerton and Blue Album stuff," Barshad writes. "That means nobody wants to see the band break up right now. Still, it's an interesting experiment in community-based meanness toward rich musicians."Surely the Internet Won't Care About This, jokes Leonard Pierce at The A.V. Club. In his news item about Burns, Pierce riffs on the seemingly inevitable shouting matches that break out whenever Weezer is discussed on the Web: "Whatever the outcome of this quixotic campaign, it is sure to generate little interest from A.V. Club readers, who have historically proven to have no opinion one way or another about Rivers Cuomo and company."Twenty Million or We Walk, says Weezer drummer Patrick Wilson. "If they can make it 20, we'll do the 'deluxe breakup'!" Wilson tweeted yesterday, alluding to next month's super-sized deluxe reissue of Pinkerton.This Weezer-Basher Doth Protest Too Much, thinks Larry Mizell at The Stranger. Mizell notes that Burns has named the relatively obscure B-side Jamie as "the one Weezer jam he sort of liked." It makes Mizell suspicious: "I don't know, dude, citing 'Jamie'? That, to me, is such a undercover-Weezer-fan thing to say, Mr. Weezer Hater. JUST SAYING."
