Rivers Cuomo confirms Weezer’s summer SZNZ EP will be “Blue Album in the 21st century” themed

Last year, Weezer announced plans to make a series of EPs based on every season, with each carrying its own musical theme. One was said to be “Weezer-inspired” for the summer; another is supposed to take on a Strokes-influenced sound for the fall. But, when Weezer released the one for spring, fans noticed that Spring actually felt a lot like old Weezer, making things confusing. Plus, the band hadn’t clarified how Franz Ferdinand, another influence mentioned for one of the albums, would fit in for a record that’s also inspired by The Strokes.

To clarify the process and themes, Rivers Cuomo shared a spreadsheet on Twitter that explains everything thoroughly. Turns out we were right in the review: Though it wasn’t initially described as also being a “Weezer-inspired” album by the band, the “genre” for the first EP, Spring, was “Island In The Sun” meets OK Human, with an “aural candy” of acoustics, 12-string, mandolin, recorder, Iron Age percussion, and “glock.” Cuomo also describes the “lyrical persona” as “Puck but kind-hearted an innocent.” (Perhaps this writer is too in tune with Weezer, because the Midsummer Night’s Dream character was mentioned in the review as someone whose essence was felt throughout the record.)

As for what the band teases for Summer, the influence is “Blue Album in the 21st century.” That sounds promising enough, but then again, it’s Weezer… so who knows how that’ll go. But weirdly enough, Cuomo writes that the “lyrical persona” is… Marc Anthony? Wild. He also describes the aesthetic as “Marc Anthony dressed as MGMT at Burning Man.” It makes no sense, but it’s already wild enough to get two “Weezer-inspired” records by Weezer.

For Autumn, the emotion is “anxiety,” with influences from Take Me Out-era Franz Ferdinand and The Strokes. Cuomo writes that the album will feature “synths? samples” and the look will be “Jesus” (sure, why not?). Finally, for Winter, the Elliot Smith-inspired record, the sound will be “fingerpicking acoustic” with a “lyrical persona” of “King Lear and/or Romeo.”