Remember how surprised everyone was to find out that Weezer was headlining the U.S. Open of Surfing? Well, soon after Weezer announced their eighth album title (Hurley) and unveiled the album cover (Jorge Garcia, who played the character Hurley on Lost), we began reading comments that Weezer was totally selling out. As commenter Corey pointed out:
I'm sure it had nothing at all to do with the fact they recorded the album in Costa Mesa, at Hurley, and they played the US Open, sponsored by Hurley Clothing. No, they just like the big guy from Lost so much. Weezer has officially sold themselves to the Nike umbrella. Way to go!
]
At first we brushed off these comments; after all, that could've just been a total coincidence–they could've decided on a name and image before the clothing company started sponsoring them. But it seems highly unlikely, seeing as Rivers Cuomo said in the original Spinner story,
“We struggled super hard trying to come up with an album title, trying to find some kind of phrase that summed up the whole aesthetic behind the album: 'Heavy Mental,' 'Smaller Than Life,'” Cuomo says. “I was coming up with all kinds of stuff, but ultimately, we just went with some random word that doesn't really have anything to do with anything. I just loved this photo of Jorge Garcia — it just had this amazing vibe. We didn't want to do a fourth self-titled record and we knew people would refer to it as 'the Hurley record' even if we left it without that title, so we just called it 'Hurley.' No words are on the cover because all we wanted was his amazing face.”
Yesterday, Hurley (the clothing company) announced their “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 starting Sept. 10. Hurley (the album) will be out on Sept. 14 for the general public, but it will be on sale exclusively at all PacSun locations on Sept. 10–“with nationwide listening parties.”
And if you buy Hurley/Weezer products between Sept. 10 and Oct. 15, you'll get a free download card with bonus content–and one Weezer fan will receive a special lunchtime concert with Weezer at their high school or college.
So did Weezer sell out? Does it even matter when everyone in the band is a millionaire? Should we be upset that they're trying to pass off a Lost/Hurley/Jorge Garcia album title and cover as NOT a marketing ploy?
We'll leave you with a quote from drummer/sometimes-guitarist Pat Wilson that we co-opted from the press release: “It was swell working with the good people at Hurley on our first adventure into a clothing line. My favorite piece we've created is the zip up hoodie–especially for those cool fall nights.”
