Weezer – Everything Will be Alright in the End (Republic)
Out of the club, through and woods and back to the shack, Rivers Cuomo attempts to go home on his most consistent album since finding his hash pipe. No longer perpetuating the shtick of being uncool and self-aware, here he plays the nerd as redemptive everyman. Gone is the flat humor and dumb party rock Cuomo employed in an attempt to outrun the long shadow of Pinkerton’s initial failure. Instead, he’s turned contemplative and reflective. Rockists will get off on his brief forays into prog and questioning what it means to be a rock band in the era of “stupid singing shows.” Me, I’m more attuned to the ones which reconcile his bumpy relationship with his Bible-thumping father. Familial bonds are more interesting than Tom Scholz homages, anyways. Another upgrade is the love songs. Once distant, cryptic and creepy, they’re now light-hearted, sincere and charming – the byproduct of a successful marriage soon to enter its second decade. It remains to be seen if everything will indeed be alright in the end, but everything certainly seems alright at the moment. It’s a noted improvement. GRADE: A-
Key Tracks: “Foolish Father” / “Go Away” / “The British Are Coming”
The Dismemberment Plan – Uncanney Valley (Partisan, 2013)
A comeback album with legs, Travis Morrison returns from a decade-long sabbatical feeling content – a word feared by the indie underbelly and purists alike who initially overlooked these 10 songs. Good thing Morrison doesn’t give a shit, and why should he? His care-free state of mind (the result of becoming a husband and father) lends and enjoyable sense of ease to the music. His understated grasp of melody is agile to contrast his knotty lyricism, and his reliance on electronica opens space for his unassuming East Coast drawl. His best asset is his ability to get out of his own way. Left to his own devices, he would write a novel instead of a single. By censoring himself, however, verses which detail the euphoria of marriage and parenthood remain poetic instead of turgid. GRADE: A-
Key Tracks: “Lookin’” / “Daddy Was a Real Good Dancer” / “Invisible”
Sound 'Round 