Going from an entry about a song representing what I wish Maladroit could have been, to a song that represents what Maladroit actually was — or at least, one of the best examples of what I wish it weren’t.
In general music terminology, “space rock” refers to a subgenre of rock innovated by bands like Pink Floyd in the 1970s, and was revived and updated in the 1990s by the likes of My Bloody Valentine, The Verve, and — my personal favorite — Failure (please do look into Fantastic Planet). In Weezer terms, however, “Space Rock” refers to what is probably the worst song off of what is probably Weezer’s worst album. I said that about “My Best Friend” off of Make Believe, as well, but that’s not because I’ve had a change of heart — it really is a toss-up. (Though, as I said with “Friend,” “Space Rock” is still not the worst song Weezer has ever released…not quite.) Generally speaking, fans seem to agree with me on this one, as “Space Rock” was recently the first song voted off of the Maladroit “survivor” thread that Running Monk maintains over at the A6 Boards.
At least it bests “My Best Friend” in terms of brevity — this is one infected, bloody band-aid that comes off a little bit quicker than the rest. In fact, at a paltry 1:53, it’s the shortest album track Weezer has ever released. But in that brief window, it wastes no time in dealing considerable damage: I won’t even attempt to describe the aural barf that is the instrumental track, as it’s so offensively uninspired and shitty that it would only be a waste of my mental faculties. It was hard enough to listen to all TEN versions I have of this song (none live, thank God; but rather, just a series of equally directionless, tossed off demos and mixes, including one “Longer Version” that decimates its one virtue by extending the runtime to an excruciating 2:35), which illuminated exactly _nothing_ other than the fact that the stupid little astronuat riff at the beginning of the song — ostensibly from where it gets its nonsense title — was actually added to the song well after it had been titled. Making the song that much more retarded. (“Hey, guys, I know this title is completely random and stupid — but if I do this little shitriff at the beginning of it, it kinda compensates, in a way. Right?” *BLAST OFF*)
Lyrically, this is a song about the intense level of communication Rivers Cuomo then maintained, a brief period in ’01/’02 that spawned the marginally less offensive “Private Message,” and an unsurfaced tune with the title of “Message Board.” Herein, Cuomo bitches about his fanbase, “You wanna cry / When you’re dealing with the kids” — referring to the fans who would give him negative feedback about The Green Album and the increasingly lackluster Maladroit session samples. “They know it all / And they’re pinning you to boards” is a double entendre referring to both the fans’ complaints and the medium through which they voiced them (forum boards). His backhanded insults would be better placed if they were actually in the context of a decent song, but “Space Rock” unwittingly serves as the perfect vehicle for illustrating just how right those whining fans really were.
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I dunno, man…
I kinda like it. Call me crazy, but I prefer it to a lot off of Maladroit, and most of MB. At least I can tell what it’s about, which is more than I can say for most of Maladroit.
I’ve always loved the ‘woo hoo’ backing vocals.
I have to second Dennis Moore – while acknowledging that it is a throwaway piece of fluff, I would rather sit through this than the overwrought ‘Slob’ and ‘Death and Destruction’, regardless of those songs worthiness.
Songs like Space Rock always sound weaker when listened to individually. No one is ever going to think “Hmm, I really fancy playing ‘Space Rock’ today”. Its an album track, heard ideally when playing the record through (and yes I know that album tracks should not be an excuse for laziness).
I think it actually gives momentum to the album as it moves into the second half, driving forwards the heavier style the band were employing.
Interesting. I agree with most of your essay, but I still think this is one of the less terrible songs from the generic mess that is Maladroit. That might also be because it’s so short it ends before I have time to get too aggravated. When it comes to Maladroit, I’m much more offended by songs such as Possibilities, Keep Fishin’, American Gigolo and Burnt Jamb. Then again, I’ve only listened to the whole album probably about five times since 2002.
Jeez, I realise this song blog is going to make me severely depressed as it goes on. So many horrible songs to be covered from a band that once helped me define part of my youth. I just hope Rivers reads this blog, it might be the only way for him to realise what needs to be done..
I can honestly say Maladroit is my third favorite =w= album (up there with pink n blue), but you’re completely right about this song. This is the only song on the entire album I’ve never been able to get into.
Accurate post. You’ll find more artistic merit in those Wilford Brimley “Diabeetus” remixes.
I second your comment on Failure. Fantastic Planet is a quality record.
The Nurse Who Loved Me is a GREAT tune.
well, it’s not worse than about 50% of songs from maladroit sessions. at least for me. but yeah, it’s shitty.
I’ve heard it claimed that this song was musically inspired by Spacemen 3, but i hear nothing resembling S3 in this track.
i thought this is a bit harsh. but then again, i really like maladroit. i really like the falsetto he uses and the lyrics are somewhat clever. they make me feel special for knowing what they are about
Dennis and ITGATT: Seriously, guys? You like that you know what the fuckin’ song is about? Don’t let the rest of the album’s nonsense BS obstruct the fact that simply knowing what a song’s about is no reason to give it credit. Besides, self-reflexivity in art is fine and good, but it’s a very bad sign if self-reflexivity is the only good thing you can find about a piece of art…
Also, if you want a wacky “Maladroit falsetto” tune that’s at least worth its own weight, check out “Sandwiches Time.”
Jonny: Again, it’s probably just because it’s over quickly. Although I can at least find SOME merit in “Gigolo” and “Fishin’” (admittedly not much), and hey, I legitimately enjoy “Burndt Jamb.” Possibly the best from the album, in my opinion.
tsarczar: That whole album’s great. One of my favorites, actually.
This is not a song of much merit but its also not especially bad either. Hell, its barely a song at all, just a little jam like Possibilities and Fall Together. I maintain that the Maladroit sessions could have given us a rockin’ little EP, that’s as far as it should have gone.
I like the idea of a Maladroit EP.
And I agree on “Possibilities,” but “Fall Together” is a song with a discernible intro, verse, chorus, bridge, solo, etcetera. I think it qualifies as a well thought-out song, while “Possibilities” and “Space Rock” feel more like jam sketches at best, half-baked song ideas at worst.
It’s more distinct than, say, Fall Together. Right now, I have no memory of what that song sounds like.
Space Rock, yeah, most of the time it’s one big, noisy A chord, but it’s got some energy (unlike the greater part of MB), and it’s the best articulation (IMO) of Rivers in his asshole, Machiavelli-reading phase.
I’m not saying it’s all that good, but at least I remember it.
I agree that this song was horrible. I remember always skipping it immediately as I heard the annoying intro before the rhythm started.
Do you think Rivers could have intentionally made this the worst song on the album to punch the “fan” more in the face? In this era in his life, I guess it’s probably doubtful judging by his ridiculous attitude.
I really enjoyed several songs on Maladroit, but most of it is weak compared to the rest of their albums. Just the fact that Scott claims it as his favorite Weezer album makes me sick; although, I’m pretty sure I like this album more than Make Believe as a whole.
>“Fall Together” is a song with a discernible intro, verse, chorus, bridge, solo, etcetera.
qft
Dennis, how can you not remember what “Fall Together” sounds like! It’s one of the few catchy, memorable songs on the record, in my opinion…
I don’t spin very often at all. In fact, my iTunes is telling me I haven’t played it at all. (I got a new laptop semi-recently, but still…)
Space Rock isn’t great by an means, and is a lot worse than it is good, but I kinda like it.
I honestly don’t believe that any of Weezer’s songs are just downright bad, even Space Rock. Which is a freakin lame song.
i’m gonna stop saying from A6 boards in my title.
try not to barf, but look what I just found on songmeanings:
“my favourite Weezer song of all time..i don’t know why but i find it odd that not many other people like it”
http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=98981
if you’ve got MBF in your ‘very worst’, shouldn’t Space Rock also go there?
As depressing as it is to say this, I think there are at least 4 songs on Maladroit that are worse than “Space Rock”–those being “Slob”, “Slave”, “Love Explosion” and “Take Control”.
I actually really like the “woo-hoo” vocals in the song. Maybe it’s just me pretending I’m listening to Buddy Holly…I don’t know, but I think those 4 songs I mentioned are far more excruciating.
Jason: I actually read that in researching this post, but decided not to even comment. I can only presume that’s somebody’s sad attempt at being funny.
Tsar: Right you are! I’ve been forgetting my “extreme opinion” tags lately. Thanks for the reminder!
JBY: Those 4 are pretty crappy, but “Space Rock” is on its own plane, in my opinion. And if you wanna listen to a “Buddy Holly for the 2000s,” please do it tastefully and crank yourself some “Photograph.”
I always thought December was hands down the worst song off of Maladroit. “Only trust can inspire/soggy lungs to breathe fire.” Need I say more? “Soggy lungs”? That is an atrocious lyric. That’s the tip of the iceberg.
If nothing else, Maladroit was at least appropriately titled.
I feel like their past three albums should have been distilled into EPs.
Maladroit:
Dope Nose
Keep Fishing
Take Control
Death and Destruction (the only truly good song on from the album)
Burnt Jamb
Fall Together
MB:
Beverly Hills
Hold Me
Peace
Freak Me Out
Haunt You Every Day
Red:
Troublemaker
Greatest Man
Pork and Beans
Dreamin’
Ms. Sweeney
The Angel and the One
CUT THE GUFF!
Oh yeah, that “December” lyric is fucking rancid. Plus, can’t get past the insult of this being the worst possible devolution of “Waiting On You.”
For the most part, I like your EP idea (other than the fact that by now, people would be clamoring for a full-length =W= record like all hell), but I don’t even know if “Take Control” is worth that much. Plus, where is “The Other Way” for the MB EP?
Lastly, TRA could’ve been a great album with very little additional effort on the part of the band — just sequencing and maybe having realized that TIK should’ve been totally redone, or maybe even scrapped in favor of another Bell song. As for Scott, “King” isn’t great, but at least it’s catchy and better than CDW…
tangent tangent tangent
I honestly do not like The Other Way. I appreciate the sentiment he’s singing about, but it’s just not a very good =w= song. There’s no hint of the ambivalence he sings about in the music, which I think lacks depth.
You can cut Take Control from my Maladroit EP if you want. I like it, but I’m not in love with it.
As for TRA, King is okay as is Pig. And I really like I Can Love, though the lo-fi acoustic cut they released doesn’t really fit with the production on rest of the tracks. Would make for a quality B-Side though… Everybody Get Dangerous could be a great pop song if it another band would just re-recorded it.
“Plus, can’t get past the insult of this being the worst possible devolution of “Waiting On You.”” Do you mean because of the riff that they share? That features in about a billion 50s and 50s-inspired songs in 6/8 and 12/8, and to me it doesn’t seem unreasonable for it to be used in both, otherwise you’d have to say ‘Waitin On You’ was a rehash of ‘Tell Laura I Love Her’ by Richie Valens and ‘Lonely This Xmas’ by Mud!
You’d have a point if “Waiting On You” and “December” weren’t both written and performed by Weezer.
And the title does have a meaning. Brian claimed in an interview that the song reminded him of Spacemen 3 (Scott “Sonic Boom” Kember, aka Spectrum and Jason Pierce, later of Spiritualized), who were considered part of the late 80s/early 90s ‘Space Rock’ resurgence. Personally, I think it sounds nothing like them, but presumably Brian and Rivers thought it was fitting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_rock
JustBlueMyself – you have the best screen name of all time. referencing the best band and tv show of all time in one little sn. I commend your excellent job.
I commend you as well for being a Weezer AND Arrested Development fan. Great taste all around.
To fault Space Rock as sounding like a sketch misses the point. If this were my blog, by gum, it would be immediately taken out of “the very worst” during the first day of my administration. It *is* a sketch, with catchy falsetto, rockin’ drums, and those cool chords during “it’s a gaaaamme.” Singable, tight, more original than most of Maladroit, and then bam, it’s over, functioning as a great lead-in to Slave. The Space Rock/Slave 1-2 is perhaps my favorite pocket of Maladroit.
Just because it is a sketch of a song doesn’t make it sound any less unfinished.
:”marginally less offensive “Private Message”
What the fuck? Private Message is probably one of the best A5 demos with one of the most memorable melodies, and even a pretty sweet solo. You’re off your rocker on on the Private Message hate.
I agree about Private Message. I love that tune. I will not join the Spack Rock revolution, however. The song is lame, just lame.
Sorry — maybe that was a little rough on “Private Message.” I still don’t think it’s anything special. The chorus has a sort of nice little turn in it, but for the most part…
Well. I do like the acoustic version a good bit.
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