Weezer – I Want A Dog

Years, scenes, SZNZ come and go, but Weezer remain. A band who have inspired many a scene but never been a part of any. And why have they managed to stick around? Because at some point over the past three decades they hit upon, if not pioneered, a winning formula that includes: 80s metal riffs, walloping hooks, occasional hints of orchestration and Rivers Cuomo’s voice that veers eternally between operatic power and breaking apart. ‘I Want A Dog’ showcases the entire gamut.

The LA band’s latest album project, ‘SZNZ’ – pronounced seasons – has seen the group shamelessly wield more creative freedom than ever before over the space of 4 EPs named after the seasons of the year, with ‘I Want A Dog’ being our first sample of final EP ‘Winter’. After a brain-frazzling 16 records of wild hits and misses, big singles and tanking albums, throughout ‘SZNZ’ they’ve taken pleasure in throwing caution not just to the wind but into a flipping force 10 hurricane and as a product it seems they’re now truly writing whatever the hell they want – chart-toppers be damned.

On their latest single, frontman Cuomo takes a break from writing about his 278^th nervous breakdown caused by another dysfunctional relationship (no criticism, btw. That emotional honesty is why we love them), to consider the notion that maybe, rather than chasing down fame and love to achieve happiness, he should have just bought a chocolate lab puppy. And all of the aforementioned ingredients are featured – a sublime melody, tenderly picked acoustic guitar turns into a forceful, celestial, grin-inducing, Weezer-trademark riff before Rivers coos us out by telling us… all he wants is a dog.

‘I Want A Dog’ was released on December 9th 2022, available to hear now on all streaming platforms, along with the entire ‘SZNZ’ project so far – ‘Spring’, ‘Summer’ and ‘Autumn’ EPs. You can also buy them, along with a load of other Weezer merch, over on https://weezer.com.

Have a listen to ‘I Want A Dog’ below: