The story of Weezer‘s Pinkerton is legend at this point: lead singer and primary songwriter Rivers Cuomo didn’t really know what to do with the success of their debut and tried to write a rock opera. When he gave up on that idea, he went walkabout to Harvard and eventually turned these songs into the very different Pinkerton. It infamously didn’t sell and Weezer returned to their original sound on their third album but then Pinkerton became every Weezer fan’s favourite album.
Country rock singer-songwriter Jessica Lea Mayfield is one of those Weezer fans. She was on tour supported by Shane Tutmarc and Dolour and they would play Weezer songs during soundchecks. They started joking about recording a piano full-album cover of Pinkerton. Eventually that joke became a reality. A couple of years ago they recorded it and now they are releasing it. The first single is “Why Bother?”
As befits the “piano album” concept, Mayfield and Dolour drop the rumbling bass and the distorted guitar and lead instead with a slow, bouncy piano and Mayfield’s vocal. The piano sounds digital giving it a kind of surreal sound. Mayfield backs herself on vocals in the chorus and they add bass, percussion, finger snaps and vibes. There’s a saxophone solo that sounds like it’s a keyboard. (The vibes probably are as well.) The instrumentation gives the whole thing almost a sincere Richard Cheese vibe, albeit with a woman singing. We’re through the looking glass.
This transforms the song entirely. Originally about Cuomo’s frustration with dating, the song almost feels like a celebration of being single in Mayfield and Dolour’s hands. There’s a lighthearted but genuine appreciation here that is winning even if the instrumentation sounds cheesy.
