OK Human

*"so supposedly the new weezer album is pretty good actually"*

*--Cam Cain*

**OK Human** is an album by the band Weezer published on 1-29-21 and reviewed by Cam later that day. It was Cam's second Weezer review in #music following his review of Weezer (Teal Album), and this time he gave a much more positive review, albeit reluctantly.

## Cam's Review

### Songs

#### Track 1: All My Favorite Songs

I really dig the way this song sounds actually! I’m an absolute sucker for string arrangements in rock songs (hello, my favorite band is arcade fire), so this song is just sounds amazing to me. Normally I love when a song drops a bunch of instruments out and puts them back in like they do here at 2:30 or so but it doesn’t work really this time. Also the lyrics almost take me out of it. I mean no one listens to Weezer for the lyrics but my god that sad/mad/bad rhyme is lame. Overall though, a very impressive start

#### Track 2: Aloo Gobi

“Gosh darn this cast iron lounger, my butt will bruise.” The strings are back! Very strange to hear in a weezer song but I think I like it. The chorus is really strong, as is the instrumental bridge. The lyrical bridge very much not. But the song is so catchy. Am I… enjoying this album? God dammit Rivers

#### Track 3: Grapes of Wrath

I enjoyed the string arrangements on the first two songs, but this one *aches* for some blue album guitars. This kinda feels like their unimpressive more recent stuff from the last couple years

#### Track 4: Numbers

This feels like it belongs in a movie. My jaw dropped when the chorus came on, I didn’t know Rivers could be this delicate with his voice. Oh my god the second chorus just came on and I love the backing vocals! They seem to really like dropping instruments out in the bridge and putting them back for one last chorus. I’m not sure yet how I feel about it. I will say so far I’ve really enjoyed 3/4 songs

#### Track 5: Playing My Piano

Rivers kinda sounds like Elliott Smith here? This is a weird song. “Kim Jong Un could blow up my city and I’d never know.” I guess this song is just him describing himself playing the piano. I’m not sure what I think of it. But I do know I’ll need to listen to it again

#### Track 6: Mirror Image

Oooh a short one! Too short to be a fully fleshed out song, but too long to be an interlude. I don’t think they’ve ever included something like this before but I like the concept

#### Track 7: Screens

A not-even-a-little-bit-subtle critique of people being addicted to technology. The chorus is pretty catchy, but the song is kinda dumb. It also ends very abruptly

#### Track 8: Bird With a Broken Wing

This one feels like it’s from a musical. Or the main character in a Disney movie is singing it. I think I enjoyed it? It’s definitely a different sound. The backing vocals are on point, swirling around back there in the final chorus. I might like this one better on repeat listens

#### Track 9: Dead Roses

Wow this song is sad. It didn’t make that much of an impact on me though, probably because it’s buried in a bunch of other slow songs. I think the melody may be lifted from an old demo of theirs, but I can’t pinpoint it

#### Track 10: Everything Happens for a Reason

Hey it’s a proper interlude! I like it. It serves its purpose well

#### Track 11: Here Comes the Rain

Weirdly I think this song is better because of the interlude before it. I like the driving piano in the back. “Splish splish splash, whooooah taking a bath.” I don’t think I like the chorus though. Maybe it’s a little too high of a register. I think it feels a little disjointed. This reminds me of another song, not a weezer song, but I’m not sure what

#### Track 12: La Brea Tar Pits

The closer. I like it. I think some of the strings may have worn on me at this point honestly. Do I hear a bari sax in the background? I’m not sure where this ranks among their closers, but it’s definitely a different vibe. They go out with a whimper instead of a bang, and that suits the album well

### Conclusion

I enjoyed a lot of this album. I’ve only listened to it once, but I’m compelled to listen again, which is more than I could say about the black album. It’s definitely their most mature album, even if some of the lyrics are lame. I could see this being a top 5 weezer album in my mind if I listen a few more times. Overall, I’d probably give it a 7/10

### Later Comments

"Upon second listen, Grapes of Wrath is a banger and I was way too hard on it"

"I really enjoyed OK Human which came out in February or something. And I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it."