Ooh woo hoo hoo

The Rentals are ACTUALLY PLAYING A TOWN I WILL BE IN this summer. Maybe even twice. This is the time that makes or breaks a band. Remember the huge, building buzz of the Weezer reunion circa 2000? The successful spate of shows? The frenzy of internet activity? The euphoria of the day the Green album was released?

And how it all went way downhill from there?

This EP is Matt Sharp's chance to prove that he was the heart and soul of Weezer -- that those of us who jumped Rivers Cuomo's ship for Sharp's weren't totally stupid to hold on through over ten years of, alternatively, silence and near-silence, by which I mean his folk records. His post-freak-out solo work was a different thing than his rock and roll; nothing was at stake on those records, and very little at the shows. They were kind of just Sharp farting around -- albeit in a sad, serious way -- and drinking a lot -- in a lonely dude in an empty house way, not a rock bassist on Geffen's tab way -- while playing plaintive songs about how he had done a lot of stuff he regretted.

But this is it, man -- time to prove that leaving Weezer was the right thing, that Seven More Minutes wasn't a fluke, that hiring a new band is gonna work, that powerpop can be something more than "woah woahs" and hammy solos. What's it gonna be, Mr. Sharp?


Some relevant West Coast dates
(of a whopping 44-date US tour with Copeland and Goldenboy):
August 1 - San Francisco, GAMH
August 4 - Seattle, Neumo's
August 5 - Spokane, Big Easy

And finally, something very old from the Rentals: an early acoustic version of "The Love I'm Searching For" from the For the Ladies demo. Enjoy.