5 for 20: Sheezer on Weezer

When you’re an influential musician, people tend to ask you what you’ve been listening to lately. Here at 5 for 20, we’re just as keen to find out what records loom large in our favourite artists’ memory banks. So, we’re asking folks for their top five records of the last 20 years.

This week we hear from Robin Hatch of Our Lady Peace and Yacht Club, who's also a member of Toronto's celebrated Weezer cover band, Sheezer, which is playing Toronto on Nov. 2 and Waterloo on Nov. 3. Choosing five amazing Weezer albums is somewhat tricky for anyone, let alone a band like Sheezer — which is lately comprised of Hatch, Laura Barrett, Alysha Haugen and Dana Snell — who only play selections from the band's self-titled 1994 debut (a.k.a. The Blue Album) and its 1996 followup, Pinkerton (i.e. the two good ones). So instead of records, Hatch decided upon her top five Weezer moments.

“I will somewhat reluctantly admit that I did not start listening to Weezer until I was 16 in 2004, and by this point had missed out on over a decade of their career,” Hatch explains. “But I nonetheless maintain I am a massive fan of the group. Even though Sheezer only covers the first two albums of Weezer's career, their later stuff is still very catchy — there's no disputing Rivers Cuomo is a great songwriter, and I mean, such a character!

“I don't think most rockers could have played both a guitar solo with Crazy Town, and also dropped a track with B.O.B.,” she adds. “I have been fortunate enough to see the band three times, though, and one of the best concerts I've ever attended was the summer 2005 show they played with the Pixies at the Molson Amphitheatre. Here are my top Weezer-related picks.”

1. "I recently heard about Ric Ocasek's involvement with Weezer — the Cars singer produced 1994's Blue Album and 2001's Green Album. The Cars' influence is truly inextricable, particularly on Weezer's first record. The rhythm guitars are similarly punchy (look no further than 'In the Garage,' and Rivers indisputably mimics Ocasek in his unselfconscious vocal performances. The synth lines on the Blue Album, like the one heard after the first chorus in 'Buddy Holly,' or the organ line at the start in 'Holiday,' could both be seen as direct descendants of a song like 'Just What I Needed.'"

2. "One of the reasons I love Weezer has to do with the context in which I heard a lot of their songs when I was younger. I went to a Battle of the Bands when I was 13 and a group of kids from my class played 'Say It Ain't So' in an elementary school auditorium; it was one of the most badass shows I have ever seen. They were as talented as the real Weezer, for all I knew. 'Susanne' is another one of my favourite tunes, for similarly nostalgic reasons. I can still hear my high school crush singing along to it as the credits of Mallrats rolled, after a group of us watched the movie at a friend's house, and then he drove us all home in his pickup truck. Best summer ever!"

3. "I first watched the 'Buddy Holly' video on that Spike Jonze compilation DVD, back when MySpace was Facebook, and Wes Anderson movies were 'underground.' I thought it was the coolest video I had ever seen. It similarly takes me back to the ingenuity of being a teenager, and glorious hours wasted on my parents' couch. Spike Jonze also directed the video for 'Undone (Sweater Song)' but it's nowhere near as good as the simulacra of Weezer on the Happy Days set."

4. "'I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams' was the original B-side to the 'Good Life' single, and can also be found on Rivers' Songs From the Black Hole release. It features vocals from Rachel Haden, the singer of that dog, who were on tour with Weezer at the time. I found out about this song when I first joined Sheezer. It is a banger, y'all, and it has an awesome Moog solo."

5. "I think we can all agree Rivers Cuomo is, or at least was for a time, a bit of a creep. Anyone who lives in an empty black room with a spoon and a plate (or whatever), then manages to hook up with Rick Rubin and turn their career around, has to be up to some sort of Robert Johnson-esque antics. Rivers didn't seem like much of a creep on the Blue Album, but then Pinkerton came out and 'party time' Rivers became 'sexual overshare' Rivers. I sometimes wonder if the initial backlash towards Pinkerton had to do with listeners' discomfort towards the brutally honest lyrics on the album. The album is rife with too much information, but the song with the most bizarre intersection between beautiful music and unsettling lyrics has to be 'Across the Sea,' Rivers' tribute to his inner Woody Allen.