Weezer’s running out of colors.

We all knew Weezer’s Black Album was coming this year, but we certainly weren’t expecting this.

You’ve heard their cover of “Africa,” and maybe even “Rosanna,” but now the nerdy alt-rockers are coming in strong with a 10-track album of covers, all nicely wrapped in the color teal.

The Teal Album features covers of Michael Jackson, TLC, Tears For Fears, a-ha and more.

Usually when musicians make surprise releases, they’re for full-length original albums, or singles to promote that album. But Weezer have never really fit the mold, so why start now? The Teal Album serves as a pretty great marketing ploy to remind people about the Black Album’s upcoming release, and it does it well. People get pretty passionate about covers, and it wasn’t long before the Twitter world was buzzing about the band’s take on TLC’s “No Scrubs.”

Some loved it:

 

 

 

 

Some hated it:

 

 

 

 

And, ya know, no big deal or anything, but Chilli, as in 1/3 of the group TLC, approves, and I think that’s the only opinion that matters.

 

 

“I just thought it’s one of those songs that’s freakishly popular,” Rivers Cuomo said in an interview with Apple Music. “I was trying to decide which gender perspective to sing it from, then I saw this tweet that said, ‘If you’re a guy covering a song by a girl, you gotta keep the pronouns. For those three minutes, you’re gay.’ So I was like, ‘Cool, let’s try this.’”

That seems pretty on-brand.

A lot of people are throwing shade at the band for even releasing a covers album, but honestly, you shouldn’t take it so seriously. I realize this is a news story and I should be unbiased, but if you find yourself getting mad at a veteran band having fun with their careers after all these years, maybe take a break from social media and reevaluate your priorities.

Recording the Teal Album and the Black Album all at once, how do Weezer have the time to do anything else with their lives? They don’t. Especially because, according to Rivers, they’ve already got music prepared for after their LP drops in March.

Rivers told Beats 1’s Zane Lowe, “Our next album is not on a grid. We just recorded the basic tracks, and there’s no click, no grid… We don’t have a real title, but the key word we have to inspire us at the moment is ‘masterpiece.'”

It begs the age-old question: is Rivers a genius or a lunatic?

Is Weezer the greatest band of all time, or the worst?

What a great segue to reintroduce the No. 1 SNL sketch of all time:

 

 

 

 

 

Check out the Black Album on March 1, and catch Weezer on the Weezer x Pixies Spring 2019 Tour later this year.

Featured image courtesy of Tankboy via Flickr, with editing by Nicole Metzler.