Today sees the release of the final installment of Weezer’s year-long SZNZ EP project – SZNZ: Winter. The band released the EP’s first song, “I Want A Dog,” earlier this month, in addition to playing the track on Jimmy Kimmel Live for the last date of their seasonal residency on the show.
SZNZ: Winter was initially meant to be a stripped back, acoustic-leaning body of work that evolved as it was created with producers Suzy Shinn and James Flanigan into an amalgamation of everything Weezer fans have loved from the band’s current decade of work. Songs like “Basketball,” and “The One That Got Away” sonically fit next to songs from 2106’s Weezer (The White Album), while tracks like “Iambic Pentameter” and “The Deep and Dreamless Sleep” recall the sprawling elements and crunchy guitar sounds of 2014’s Everything Will Be Alright In The End. Songs like “Sheraton Commander” pull on elements from 2021’s celebrated OK Human with flourishes of orchestration. Guitarmonies abound throughout the seven song collection, bringing moments of 2021’s Van Weezer to the forefront. Throughout it all remains frontman Rivers Cuomo’s incredible voice and melodies acting as a lodestar for whatever turns the songs themselves take.
SZNZ: Winter, along with the other three EP’s released this year – SZNZ: Autumn, SZNZ: Spring and SZNZ: Summer – ultimately creates a spectacular whole in bringing the SZNZ project to a close. When listening to all four in a row, it’s undeniable that the SZNZ project, which saw the band stretching themselves to record and release the EP’s in real time, features some of the most inspired, inventive songs within the Weezer discography.
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By: Bass Magazine