Despite the fact that less and less people seem to share my viewpoint these days, a new Weezer album is always cause for celebration in my neck of the woods. After a lengthy relationship with Geffen Records, Rivers Cuomo and company have jumped ship to land at legendary “indie” (there’s that word again) label Epitaph. Their new album, “Hurley”, comes out this fall and is shaping up to have a bigger rollout than the last couple of Weezer records. Not only is “Lost” castmember Jorge Garcia on the album cover (his character is apparently named Hurley…I know NOTHING about “Lost”), but Rivers is currently climbing the charts as the featured vocalist on B.O.B.’s “Magic”, potentially opening him and his band up to a whole new audience.

Weezer’s new single “Memories” isn’t exactly a reinvention of the wheel for the band-it might be slightly more synthy and Cars-like than their usual output. It’s still very recognizable as Weezer, though, both musically and topically. The song, which finds Rivers in a nostalgic state of mind, can be considered a cousin of sorts to “Heartsongs”, which is one of my favorite recent Weezer tracks. Check the song out for yourself.

“Hurley” hits stores on September 14th.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdmsDjSpjew