Here’s something you may not know: Weezer is huge in Japan. The band’s documentary/concert film Weezer: Across The Sea, Live in Japan shows how strong the Weezer fandom is over there, and frontman Rivers Cuomo loves the country back. He cares so much about his Japanese fans, in fact, that in 2013, he teamed up with Scott Murphy of pop-punk band Allister to release a self-titled album as Scott & Rivers that was sung mostly in Japanese. The album debuted at the top spot on the iTunes Japan alternative charts during its first week of release, and now the duo is back for more. They just announced their second album, and it’s called ããã¤ã¡ (via Pitchfork), which is Romanized as Nimaime and roughly translates to “Beautiful” (if Google Translate is to be believed).
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The record comes out on April 12 via Sony Music Japan International, and if you’re looking to get your hands on it in the U.S., good luck, since it’s only set to be released in Japan. Still, you can listen to “FUN IN THE SUN” right now.
As you’d probably expect, there’s a J-pop influence here, and the songs also seem to borrow more from Murphy’s pop-punk past than they do from Cuomo’s alternative rock roots. Still, if you squint hard (or do whatever the equivalent is for your ears), “FUN IN THE SUN” could pass as an alternate universe version of “Island In The Sun.”
Are you excited to get your hands on this album (if you can)? Let us know what you think in the comments, and check out the album cover and track list below.
ããã¤ã¡ track list
- “åãã®æªæ¥”
- “Doo Wop feat. ãã¨ãµã¯ (MONGOL800)”
- “FUN IN THE SUN (RIP SLYME) [ft. PES]”
- “ã«ãªãã©ã«ã㢠ãµã³ã·ã£ã¤ã³”
- “風å¹ãã°”
- “ãã¥ã¼ã¬ã¼ã«”
- “åã¯ãµã¤ã¯ãã³”
- “ã¹ã³ãªãã®ãã¼ã”
- “æ¬é³ãªãã ã”
- “ããã³ã°ãã¼ã”
- “å¤ããã¬æ³ã with miwa”
- “ãã³ãè±ã(ãã¼ãã¹ã»ãã©ãã¯)”
Images: Sony Music Japan International