Christmas With Weezer

Christmas With Weezer delivers on its title — six covers of well known (and mostly religious) yuletide carols cranked up and rocked out with the unmistakable sound that the band's fans know and love like family. Initially recorded for the previously released iPhone OS game Christmas With Weezer, it makes perfect sense for a power-pop band to blast through tunes that are under three minutes long. “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” opens with fuzzy guitar distortion and Rivers Cuomo singing like he means it, especially when he shouts the "We won’t leave until we get some" part before a short and tasteful solo softly erupts. The doubled vocals on “O Come All Ye Faithful” fit well, while the singular sung track on the more subdued verses of “O Holy Night” is conversely appropriate. “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” plays appropriately triumphant and their take on the mellower “Silent Night” stays true to form, though the buzzing guitars almost sound like the ghost of of shoegaze past since the tempo is mellower than most Weezer recordings. Similarly, “The First Noel” moves with a peaceful pulse as Cuomo croons over warm blankets of crumbling guitar crunch.