Weezer’s New Album is Hurley!

Weezer is probably the most unpretentious band in the world. Simple and lovable, no one can deny the charm of Mr Cuomo and co. Now the merry bunch are on the tip of releasing their 8th studio album on none other than iconic punk label Epitaph. Kerrang!

The multi-platinum, Grammy winning alt rock band will release Hurley on 13 September 2010. Starting today, fans are invited to pre-order the physical album now at www.epitaphstore.eu. And the album’s first single, ‘Memories’, can be streamed now at MySpace.com/Weezer and purchased on iTunes.

The deal with Epitaph Records signals the next phase in Weezer’s career and the return to their indie roots with a highly personal and sonically exploratory album guaranteed to delight their fans. JUICE has heard the new single and it’s reminiscent of the stuff that was on their highly acclaimed 2nd album Pinkerton. And that’s a treat considering how apprehensive frontman Rivers Cuomo is about returning to that part of his life which sucked.

“So far we’ve had a really good creative collaboration with Brett Gurewitz and the other people at the label, and I’m looking forward to collaboration with other like-minded alternative music fans at the label,” Rivers recently shared with Los Angeles Times.

“I’ve been a fan of Weezer from the beginning, and I’ve loved all their records,” replied Epitaph president and founder Brett. “So it’s amazing to find myself working with them on the new one!”

“Weezer is a great band,” added labelmate and Rancid frontman Tim Armstrong.  “I’m stoked they’re going to be part of the Epitaph family.”

Produced by Rivers and Shawn Everett (Raditude, Phantom Planet, Ozomatli), Hurley is a high-energy rock album that wastes no time with the first single ‘Memories’, an impassioned look at nostalgia with fast tempo, buzzing guitar riffs and killer hooky chorus. Fueled by a newfound sense of independence, Hurley finds the band making some of the most powerful and adventuresome music of their storied career.

“We all felt that the really intense, raw emotional side of Weezer is what’s going to make everyone the happiest at this moment,” Rivers told Los Angeles Times.

Known for their quirky album artwork, Weezer have done it yet again.  The cover features a simple, yet astonishing close-up of actor Jorge Garcia, which fans of the Lost series will no doubt find as perplexing as fascinating.

“We struggled super hard trying to come up with an album title, trying to find some kind of phrase that summed up the whole aesthetic behind the album: Heavy Mental, Smaller Than Life,” Rivers recently told Spinner.com. “I was coming up with all kinds of stuff, but ultimately, we just went with some random word that doesn’t really have anything to do with anything. I just loved this photo of Jorge Garcia-it just had this amazing vibe. We didn’t want to do a 4th self-titled record and we knew people would refer to it as ‘the Hurley record’ even if left it without that title, so we just called it Hurley. No words are on the cover because all we wanted was his amazing face.”

Stay tuned to www.weezer.com and www.epitaph.com for up-to-date news and info about Hurley.

Hurley Track Listing (Standard Edition):
1. Memories – 3:16
2. Ruling Me – 3:30
3. Trainwrecks – 3:21
4. Unspoken – 3:01
5. Where’s My Sex? – 3:28
6. Run Away – 2:55
7. Hang On – 3:33
8. Smart Girls – 3:11
9. Brave New World – 3:57
10. Time Flies – 4:04

Hurley Track Listing (Deluxe Edition):
1. Memories – 3:16
2. Ruling Me – 3:30
3. Trainwrecks – 3:21
4. Unspoken – 3:01
5. Where’s My Sex? – 3:28
6. Run Away – 2:55
7. Hang On – 3:33
8. Smart Girls – 3:11
9. Brave New World – 3:57
10. Time Flies – 4:04
11. All My Friends Are Insects – 1:53
12. Viva La Vida – 4:06
13. I Want To Be Something – 2:56
14. Represent – 4:13

Image Sean Murphy