Rolling Stone Australia - May 2016

May, 2016 RollingStoneAus.com | Rolling Stone | 13

OLD SCHOOL

Cuomo last year in

Burbank, California

Rivers Cuomo

aims to reclaim

his early magic

on new LP

By Andy Greene

[Cont. on 14]

FIVE NOTESPRIMAL SCREAMPG. 19 | PROFILE URTHBOY’S PERSONAL ALBUM PG. 22

GETTY IMAGES

A

s rivers cuomo

began writing his lat-

est batch of Weezer

songs, his producer, Jake Sin-

clair, asked what it would take

to get back into the mindset

that produced the band’s clas-

sic fi rst two albums. “I need to

get out of the house,” Cuomo

replied. He ended up doing

way more. He grew back the

beard he wore when the band

recorded 1996’s Pinkerton. He

started watching young surf-

ers at Venice Beach in hopes of

fi nding lyrical inspiration. He

even signed up for Tinder – for

purely platonic

Weezer

Find the

Spirit of

the ’90s