Did Weezer sell out?
Even worse: did they sell out to a clothing line carried at PacSun?
It looks like the answer is yes. The band's newest album, Hurley, was supposedly named after the Lost character. At least, that's what Rivers Cuomo told Spinner earlier this month. But, now, it looks like it's a gigantic promotion to get you to buy a "zip-up hoodie -- especially for those cool fall nights." (That's a quote from the band's drummer and sometimes-guitarist, Pat Wilson, FYI.)
[Update, Wednesday, 2:14PM: Brian Bell retracted the statement that admitted that Hurley funded the album, and was the reason for the album's name. Read his new statement after the jump.]
More after the jump.
Update, Wednesday, 2:14PM: Brian Bell recently retracted his statements at the Mile High Music festival (which are posted below) in this post to the band's website:
Just wanted to clear something up. Recently I did an interview in Denver where I was asked why we called the album Hurley. I mistakenly said that Hurley funded the album. I later found out that it wasn't true at all. Weezer paid for every penny of this recording. The reason the record is called "Hurley" is because Hurley (Jorge Garcia) is on the cover. We thought about leaving the record untitled for the fourth time, but that causes a lot of problems and he knew people would http://stereogum.com/wp-admin/post-new.phpend up calling the record "Hurley" anyway. We got no money for calling the record "Hurley." thanks folks,-Brian
On August 19, Hurley, the clothing company, announced "Hurley Rocks You Back to School" with Weezer -- a "fashion and music collaboration" that will sell limited edition Weezer inspired men's and women's wovens, t-shirts, and hoodies at selected stores on September 10. Hurley, the album, will be out on September 14, but will be on sale at PacSun locations on September 10 with "nationwide listening parties." (To be fair, it looks like Hurley has collaborated with Alkaline Trio in the past, too.)
Lead guitarist Brian Bell admitted that the album wasn't named after the beaming fat guy from Lost at the Mile High Music festival. (That's in direct opposition to the story that Rivers Cuomo told Spinner earlier this month about the band naming the album after the character from Lost.)
Here's what Bell said:
"The inspiration came from a surf company called Hurley, that was funding the record at the beginning of the recording process... I don't even know how they're tied in so much, although, we got some clothes and we did a photo shoot where we're wearing these clothes, and I think we're selling these clothes in malls. So how that's tied in, I don't know. I think it's this whole, like... tying in different medias. And then using Hurley, the character from Lost, which I've never seen in my life, as our mascot almost, for this record, is somewhat post-modernistic maybe. I hope people don't look at it as too jokey. Cause it certainly comes across that way, without reading into it a little more deeply. That's it as far as the name and the album cover goes."
Watch the video here:
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