Song Review:"Undone-The Sweater Song" by Weezer

---

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away Weezer was spearheading the mainstream presence of emo inflected alt-rock. In a year that saw the release of Green Day’s Dookie, The Offspring’s Smash, and Soundgarden’s Superunknown, it was obvious that alternative rock was the new normal.

But almost 30 years on, the Weezer that is currently one of the headliners of the Hella Mega tour is entirely different from the geeky metalheads they were back in the early 90s. If you read my review of Pinkerton then you know my stance on the highly divisive dad rockers of today, but I will say this; they are a perfectly servivable pop band with ok hooks.

Anything beyond that is a bit of a stretch, but at least we’ll always have their better, earlier stuff. A prime example is the ever famous “Undone-The Sweater Song” in all of its campy, poppy, grungy, emo-ey glory.

Intended as the band’s attempt at a Velvet Underground-esque song, Rivers Cuomo has long stated that “Undone” was supposed to be sad, but fans and critics alike found it kind of silly. Well, Rivers, what did you expect? “Watch me unravel, I’ll soon be naked” I mean, c’mon, that’s funny in an edgy sort of way.

It’s in Weezer’s genes to be funny, whether it’s unintentional or intentional, they have built their careers on appealing to the geeks and sad boys. While they may be far from appealing to sad boys nowadays, the campiness of being a geek will always ring true in their catchy pop ballads.

What “Undone” did, however, was give a sort of place for the emo-geeks to find comfort. Back in the early days of mainstream pop punk and alt rock, there was a good deal of exclusivity and elitism that followed in the breakout success of former underground, unknown, and unsigned bands.

Weezer burst onto the scene with the Blue Album and immediately endeared themselves to those weirdos who sat in the back of the classrooms. You know who I’m talking about; that one dude who was a total geek but was cool and was into some stuff you were secretly into. “Undone” spoke to a generation of disenfranchised kids who looked inward and wanted to find other kids who felt and thought the way they did.

“Undone” isn’t a particularly deep song, but it has heart. And at the heart of the alt rock boom in the 90s was the massive expression of emotions through thought, action, and unity. The early 90s saw so many stellar bands break the molds of what was thought to be the norm, and Weezer did their part.

But I digress; “Undone” will always remain a classic in the realms of alt rock, emo, and arena rock. The song helped the L.A. natives pave the way for their newfound genre-bending stylings on later releases.

Love them, hate them, or be indifferent to them, Weezer is here to stay. The geeky emo-edgelords they once were have grown up to be, well adult geeks, and have moved on to playing poppy dad rock for a generation of kids who think “Africa” is a good song. Well, like I said before, we’ll always have their early stuff as well as “Undone”. I like that Weezer better anyway.