Weezer Frontman Details Favourite Nirvana Song
Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo is a mad scientist of a songwriter, equally capable of giving listeners something anthemic and 
timeless; catchy enough to resemble top 40 chart toppers; or bat shit crazy to the point where even Weezerites get a bit freaked out.
In those ways, it can be argued that – as an artist – he isn’t terribly different from fallen Nirvana leader, Kurt Cobain.
During a recent conversation with Rolling Stone, Cuomo was asked for his ‘expert opinion’ on six songs, one of which was Nirvana’s dark driver of a track, “Aneurysm.”
Said Cuomo: “It’s my very favourite Nirvana song to play as a performer – to me it has the best balance of the Bleach-era guitar riffage and the melodic catchiness and chord simplicity of Nevermind. You get the best of both worlds.”
The nerd rock aficionado went on to explain that Weezer played “Aneurysm” in 1998 during an all-Nirvana set they performed under the moniker of Goat Punishment.
“All the parts are super-catchy and grinding, and it has that trademark soft-loud-soft-loud Nirvana dynamic,” he continued. “Then there’s [this] bonus hook at the end of the song, where he starts singing, ‘She came to pump it straight to my heart.’ When it gets to that point and he gives you this bonus hook that presses any emotional buttons in you that haven’t been pressed yet – I mean, that completely wipes out the possibility of anyone else being able to have written this song.”
Cuomo added that he prefers the live recording of “Aneurysm” to the studio version that appears on Incesticide. He finds the ‘Beat it! Beat it’ background vocal in the chorus “cheesy,” even for him.
-Adam Grant
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