“Hurley” will take Weezer fans by storm on September 14^th. The last three years have been big for Weezer, but they’ve received mixed reviews. That will not be the case with “Hurley,” which represents a perfect blend of classic Weezer style and their desire to always innovate and grow. For me, the album was a reflection on time, a subject near and dear to Weezer’s 18-year-old heart. As Cuomo has said in interviews, there’s definitely more “raw rock energy,” on “Hurley,” but there’s also a lot of integrity, both personal and musical.

The first track on the album, “Memories,” is a seemingly upbeat tune with a more melancholy set of lyrics about wanting to get back to simpler times “before [we] went onstage.” Listeners can only assume that this is an autobiographical track and it casts and interesting light on the gift/curse of fame. The song is a nice mesh of lasery synths and their regular instruments, which keeps the sound very modern. The bridge is especially sweet with its marimba (or glockenspiel? Xylophone? Whichever!) melody ringing out nice and clear, highlighting the dichotomy of the song’s perky sound and nostalgic lyrics.

“Ruling Me” picks up with a similar beat, and the subject matter is classic Weezer: young heartsickness. The vocals really soar on this track, and it serves as a great stepping stone between “Memories” and the third track, “Trainwreck,” which is one of my favorites on the album. This song definitely highlights their instrumentalism and some Weezer trademarks. As a band, they always know when to build up the sound nice and loud, but also when to rest and let the lyrics and singing shine through.

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any more Weezery, “Unspoken” comes along and I feel like I’m back in the nineties, begging my parents to let me pierce my belly button. It’s a predominantly acoustic song with the same rests and intensities of “Trainwreck” and the superlative-ish lyrics of Weezer when they were in the heart of the pop punk years. They’re using strings again in this song, and somehow I’m still surprised every time Weezer does this as it’s usually pretty sappy. But in this song, you throw in heavy drums and lyrics about unspoken hate and it’s anything but cheesy.

This attitude of accessible hardcore continues into “Where’s My Sex?” where the distortion is heavier and the topic is, as suggested by the title’s song, a little more titillating. My favorite thing about this song is how they modify their voices throughout – whether it’s a yelled chorus or a whiny line in a verse, Weezer never neglects the versatility of the human voice in their tracks. To me, that’s what sets them apart from other bands, their organic creativity. Even in the age of auto-tune, Weezer keeps things authentic but still exuberant.

Then again, the vocal effect used at the start of “Run Away” is fitting and provides a great 30 second lead in into the rest of the song. I love rock songs with background vocals and cutesy lyrics, so I’m sure that this will soon creep to the top of my iTunes most played list. It’s tender, but not saccharine, especially with the complex turn that the lyrics take in the last minute of the number.

“Run Away” is followed by “Hang On,” with similar major chords and deliciously precious lyrics. The vocal harmonies on this song make me sigh, but then the chorus comes around and it’s more of a headbanger. “Hang On” is probably the most epic-sounding song on the album, but it’s cute enough to leave you suddenly daydreaming of your sweetheart or the one that got away. My friends and I all appreciate when artists put handclaps in their songs and this one’s got ‘em, so I’m sure it’ll be a fan favorite played live.

“Smart Girls,” contrary to it’s male perspective, is a song for the ladies. It glorifies a girl’s brain as her most bodacious asset, so I can only hope that “Smart Girls” becomes an anthem for young ladies across the nation. This song is in the same musical category as the first two. It’s upbeat and a hell of a lot of fun – it makes me want to drive a convertible car really fast and lean over to kiss someone cute in the passenger seat. Then there’s “Brave New World,” a pre-apocalyptic song about the ways in which our world is changing and, whereas “Memories” looks back on time with longing, “Brave New World” looks forward with a confidence that is reflected in the musicality of the song.

“Time Flies” is the perfect way to end this album. It continues the album’s contemplations of time and its passing, with more of an acoustic sound that lends a sense of sincerity to the song. The lyrics present both the positive and negative of the fact that “Time Flies,” with harmonic choruses that absolutely melt my heart. I anticipate lots of folksy covers of this song in the near future.

The importance of a single is stressed so much these days that it’s hard to remember the joy you can get from listening to a full album. It’s the way our parents, grandparents, and many generations have enjoyed albums – on 8 tracks, records, cassette tapes, and more. It’s better than instant gratification, getting to listen to the album’s musical energy, emotions, and ideas build and grow, and I get all of that and more from “Hurley.” Weezer has modernized into an edgy, rock sound and compiled an album with songs that transition into one another so effortlessly that I can’t imagine listening to it in any other order. It’s a great next step in the Weezer saga and leaves me with nothing but confidence in Weezer’s relevance now and in the future.