Post-Pinkerton

When last week's episode was released, the album that features "Happy Together" was a mystery to us. But despite last week's surprise release of The Teal Album, the sixth track from this new record of covers was first performed all the way back in 2002, by request of Spike Jonze. John explores the history of Weezer's relationship with this Turtles song in today's episode.

A big show for a big song: John dives deep into the 18-year life of "Hash Pipe." Today's episode has everything: Summer Songs 2000, The Green Album, the TV show Peter Gunn, a Massachusetts band called The Shods, and the Santa Monica prostitute who inspired it all.

"Silent Night" is the last track on the Christmas With Weezer EP. John takes it as an opportunity to reflect on why he likes this EP, what the detractors have to say about it, and why he thinks it's sneakily one of the band's best Post-Pinkerton projects.

On today's show, John talks about "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," why Pat Wilson's love of his iPhone helped lead to Christmas With Weezer, and why this project made him think about, of all things, the Weezer Snuggie.

"The First Noel" is the fourth track on the Christmas With Weezer EP, and the focus of today's new episode. John explains who is responsible for the instrumentation given that Rivers Cuomo didn't pick up a guitar at these sessions, and why 2008 was the perfect time for such a different approach to a Weezer recording.

"O Holy Night" is a familiar Christmas carol, but not one many would think to be a fit for a band like Weezer. Quite often featured on Christmas albums as a vocal showcase, the song is the most challenging task Rivers Cuomo faced on the Christmas With Weezer EP. On today's episode, John talks about how he fared.

"O Come All Ye Faithful" is the second track on Christmas With Weezer, the EP that began its life as an iPhone application. On today's show, John talks about the band's version of this famous carol and why Rivers Cuomo plays a different role than usual on these recordings.

On today's show, John kicks off his monthlong look at the Christmas with Weezer EP, which didn't begin its life as an EP but as ... an iPhone application? Learn all about its strange beginnings on today's show!

"New Joint" is one of the first songs Weezer recorded in their sessions for the Green Album. John talks about this song as the transition point from SS2K to New Joint, and what its original title tells us about this song and its limited scope.

"Cold and Damp" is another entry from the mysterious late '90s period of the band's history, where the band wasn't really a band and Rivers Cuomo was isolated and trying to reinvent his songwriting process. Learn what this song has to do with Oasis, Cuomo's unconscious and the Encyclopedia of Pop on today's show.

"Dreamin'" is not a perfect song, but it's one of the more interesting ones we'll ever cover on the show. On today's episode, John discusses the amazing bridge, what about this song reminds him of "Across the Sea," and pizza bagels. Yes: pizza bagels.

"Diamond Rings" never made it onto Maladroit, but it speaks volumes about what did and didn't work in this period of Weezer's work in and out of the studio.

Let's not beat around the bush: "Oh Lisa" is one of the worst Weezer songs ever. John discusses why this B-Side misses the mark, and how it was the first Green Album era song some fans heard despite only being officially released as a B-side.

I think it's safe to say that today's episode will have more Shrek talk than any other episode you'll hear from this series. John discusses "My Best Friend," its history with the animated film Shrek 2, and why this song wasn't on Make Believe ... until it was.

Summer Songs 2000 isn't an official album, and not something the band was planning to revisit until fans demanded it. But there are songs from this time period that didn't make the official unofficial release. "Ev'ry Night" is one such song. John talks about how this minor work illustrates the way the band was gently beginning to re-shape its own narrative.