20. Jedi By Nature — Can’t Stop Partying
Is “Can’t Stop Partying” the worst ever Weezer song? It’s gotta be up there (though “The Girl Got Hot,” off the same album, is steep competition). On two different versions, Weezer brought in both Lil Wayne and Chamillionaire in a desperate bid for a crossover hit. In 2009, Chris Christman aka Jedi By Nature decided to take the piss out of it with an overly sincere vocal cover that really underlines how terrible these lyrics are. Is it actually good? Maybe not. But that’s sort of the point. — Ray Padgett
19. Glowbug — L.A. Girlz
Musically a throwback to Weezer’s debut, “L.A. Girlz” is actually an experiment, at least lyrically, with the lyrics coming from a spreadsheet Cuomo was using to try out rhyme schemes. That’s why there’s a Jabberwocky quote in it.
LA-based chillwave artist Glowbug (Daniel Anderson) included a cover of “L.A. Girlz” on his 2018 album-length tribute to the band, one of the most recent songs Anderson decided to include. Anderson drops the guitars, at first, and instead layers keyboards – piano, synthesizers – on top of each other while he sings through AutoTune. Though the song sounds very familiar, the aesthetic is very different. When he gets to the one-line bridge, the song appears to build towards a climax, with more and more instruments in the mix. But Anderson removes nearly every instrument but his voice and piano for the last repetition of the line. And then the beat drops and a full band, worthy of Weezer but a little more classic rock, comes in for a massive crescendo. It’s a truly epic cover. — Riley Haas
18. Murder By Death — Unspoken
Murder By Death put their own spin on Weezer’s “Unspoken,” giving the song a feel that fits the band’s Americana style. The cover came about through the band’s successful 2012 Kickstarter campaign, which gave fans the opportunity to choose songs they wanted Murder By Death to record. Instead of simply using the campaign to pre-sell another album, the band decided to turn the many cover requests they had received from fans into their own project itself. The response was strong, and the band “learned, reworked, recorded and mixed” 15 fan-selected songs “in a sleepy whiskey-fueled 13 days.” The songs were released digitally on As You Wish: Kickstarter Covers Vol. 1 on April 2, 2013. As a side note, they also recorded Weezer’s “Only in Dreams” on the second volume of covers. — Eric Taylor
17. Joe Ghost (ft. Lourdiz) — Say It Ain’t So
If you’ve ever wanted the beat to just drop already in a Weezer song, this cover takes “Say It Ain’t So” to the club. It has an easygoing start, then builds with rat-a-tat drums and escalating claps. After the classic club-mix breakdown, the stripped-down bridge is one you can easily imagine a whole crowd dramatically cry-singing to on the dancefloor. — Sara Stoudt
16. Christopher John — The World has Turned and Left Me Here
On a 2002 tribute album, Christopher John of the emo band Elliott tackled this Blue Album deep cut (well, to the extent the Blue Album has any deep cuts, that is). He gives it a folky finger-picked sheen, turning it into a smoky ballad. The chorus doesn’t explode; it soothes. — Ray Padgett
15. Dashboard Confessional — Jamie
Weezer songs are effective because of the emotional honesty. One of Rivers Cuomo’s great talents is conveying the scared innocence of young adulthood and putting it into a voice we can all identify with. “Jamie” first appeared in the US on the DGC compilation. (Optimistically subtitled “Vol 1.”) This take by Dashboard Confessional keys into the vulnerability of the song. It goes deep and hits bone. Teen angst never felt so perfectly understood. — Luke Poling
14. Kacey Musgraves — Island in the Sun
The world isn’t overflowing with “countrified” covers of Weezer. But country singer/songwriter Kacey Musgraves isn’t known for being predictable or conventional. In 2013, at about the time she was gaining acceptance from mainstream country audiences with her Same Trailer Different Park debut, Musgraves often played “Island in the Sun” in her concerts. When most of your songs concern rural east Texas trailer park dramas, it helps to spice up a set with a chill escapist fantasy like “Island in the Sun.” Whatever her motivation, it worked. By 2016 Musgraves was playing the song on stage with Weezer. Hip, hip! — Tom McDonald
13. The Moog Cookbook — Buddy Holly
When the synthesizer became marginally more manageable as a musical instrument in the 1960s, there were a lot of Moogsploitation records put out, full-album covers of the hits of yesteryear – or, in the case of Wendy Carlos’ Switched-On Bach, yestercentury – filled with futuristic blips and bloops. When The Moog Cookbook came along in the mid-90s, they had a great joke – an album that was current, retro, and futuristic in one fell swoop, covering the hits of today in a space-age way. “Buddy Holly” is one of ten bullseyes on the band’s eponymous debut. — Patrick Robbins
12. Sarah Blackwood feat. Emily Bones — Say It Ain’t So
An acoustic guitar and ukulele team up for this cover. I especially like how this more whimsical sound adds an extra-bubbly “bubbling” moment in the second verse. But don’t be fooled into thinking this cover is all sugar and no spice. Towards the middle of the song, it gets more of an edge, slowly at first in the tone of the vocals, then full-on with an electric guitar shred before returning to the acoustic sound. — Sara Stoudt
11. Biffy Clyro — Buddy Holly
Biffy Clyro put their own chaotic spin on Weezer’s “Buddy Holly” in 2006, turning the familiar power-pop classic into something much heavier and more aggressive. The band were huge Weezer fans, but rather than simply recreate the original, they decided to take the song in “a little bit different” direction, as bassist James Johnston put it. The cover was originally recorded for the Kerrang! magazine compilation High Voltage!: A Brief History of Rock. The result is a strange, explosive version of “Buddy Holly” that sounds unmistakably like Biffy Clyro while still retaining enough of Weezer’s original to make it instantly recognizable. — Eric Taylor
