The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Wednesday, November 4, 2009 - 5 Weezer goes for grown-up By KEVIN MEYER choly reflection of what Cuomo For the Daily fears he has become: another 30-something whose good times With Raditude, Weezer has have drifted downstream. taken yet another sidestep from Elsewhere, Raditude seem- its classic ang- ingly drifts away from this ear- sty geek rock *** nestness. Many of the tracks are fare. Across chalk-full of feel-good beats and the record, Weezer ditzy mirth. With simplicity and frontman Riv- Raditude sarcasm, these tracks will find ers Cuomo Rtheir ways into listeners' hearts. takes initia- Geffen Raditude demands that ado- tive and leaves lescence be celebrated because, behind the pop-sensitive, cajol- after all, it is fleeting. The dizzy ing music that marked Weezer's electro-pop on "(If You're Won- past couple albums, replacing dering If I Want You To) I Want it with pleasantly hilarious You To" and "I'm Your Daddy" lamentations and parodies of are shining examples of the gen- teenage naiveti. This direction uine yet jocular nature of Radi- may seem both misguided and tude. Perhaps the most obvious painfully simple, but Weezer moment of duality is ,the Lil manages to succeed brilliantly Wayne collaboration "Can't with a handful of whimsical and Stop. Partying." While appear- memorable tracks. ing superficially to be just With a hint of farce, Raditude self-consciously begs listeners to question both its validity and Facing adult life sincerity. Ultimately, the album proves to be both earnest and sympathetic as it parodies ado- lescent immaturity through a teenage years. lens of genuine teenage nostalgia. It's Raditude's delicate balance between spoof and authenticity that cements its greatness. The another head-bopping grind transition from the collegiate with its shallow money-and-hos tail-chasing, Patron-drinking lyrics and strange dance beat, lifestyle to one of middle-aged the theme running behind the maturity is obviously an evolu- song is one of sobriety and com- tion Cuomo and crew have taken plaint. with a grain of salt. Weezer contrives a painstak- Though Raditude appears ingly complex parody of the way light-hearted on the surface (its many teenagers live while main- bizzare cover features a dog in taining a surprising sincerity. mid-leap through a stereotypi- No longer are these men in the cal American living room) the positiontobetakencareofwhile album is much more reflective hedonistically living life to the and somber than it superficially fullest, with a safety net below seems. Tracks like "Run Over to catch them if they fall. Sud- By A Truck," a fast-paced con- denly, the men of Weezer seem dolence equipped with heavy to realize they have to grow distortion and one of the album's up. Raditude manages to neatly most poetically rhythmic cho- compile all the mixed emotions ruses, express the despera- that accompany the transition tion of Cuomo's growing pains. into adulthood. And, as Cuomo Similarly, the song "Put Me describes, "I feel like I've been Back Together" acts as a melan- run over by atruck." White Castle: Cruel to more than just your toilet. Welcome to Amreeka 'Amreeka' illustrates the tribulations of struggling immigrants in America By EMILY BOUDREAU Daily Arts Writer "God bless America, buy hamburgers," says the sign outside the White -Castle where Muna (Nisreen Faour, "For My Father") now * works. She and her son Fadi --(newcomer Melkar Muallem) Aireeika are Palestinian immigrants At the who have come to live with Michin family members in America igan (or as they call it, "Amreeka"). First Generation Fadi and Muna have given up stable jobs, friends and family at home in pur- suit of the American dream. But America doesn't end up being what they expected. In the film, America has just entered the war in Iraq, and Muna and her family struggle against prejudice. Their new life ends up being just as trying as life in Pal- estine. "Amreeka" seems to give a fair and honest glimpse into life as an immigrant. The charac- ters get homesick, have money problems and struggle with learning and speaking English. America does not make them happy. At the same time, the family members don't go back to Palestine or give up. As Muna points out, their lives may not be perfect, but they would never be perfect anywhere in the world. When Muna and her family encounter preju- dice, however, the struggle isn't as convincing- ly directed as their other day-to-day struggles. Whenever the family in the film is harassed, it's always by a less-educated male from the rougher area of town - the same archetype every time. This limited portrayal of the harassment the family endures certainly doesn't paint a pic- -ture of mass nonacceptance of ethnic minori- ties in America. References are briefly made to Muna's brother-in-law's clients leaving him on the basis of his ethnicity, but the drama never materializes on screen. The film tackles sensitive subject matter and the actors do an admirable job handling it delicately. Faour, however, carries the film and gives the movie its emotional weight.- Muna manages to find humor in her struggles. She starts selling herbal weight loss supplements she saw online in order to earn more money, and unfortunately sells them at White Castle, learning too late that Americans do not like to be called "fat." Given insufficient screen time to develop their characters, the film's young perform- ers stfuggle. Alia Shawkat (TV's "Arrested Development") plays Fadi's cousin and takes her role to the extreme. Shawkat comes off a bit too brash and Americanized to the point where she doesn't mesh well with the family, even in the scenes in which she's supposed to do so. It's unclear if the director is trying emphasize hoss America isolates immigrant children from their heritage or if it's an actual flaw in the film. Writer and director Cherien Dabis (TV's "The L Word") is also able to coax the script's nuances to the surface, calling attention to the darker moments in the funny situations as well. She makes the, audience notice American flags and the "Support our Troops" signs and then connects the images with troops in the West Bank and the flags wavingthere. Despite the serious tone, Dabis manages to keep humor running throughout the film, making sure it doesn't get too dismal. It should be pos- sible for a film to be both funny and edgy, but "Amreeka," while enjoyable, is not as biting as it could be. Dabis's characters all hold onto the idea that America will solve all their problems and they become increasingly upset when this doesn't happen. The film remains unsure of the point it wants to make about modern-day immigrants in America. "Amreeka" presents an idealized picture of America that, at the same time, seeks to tear this idealization down. Tegan and Sara's divine collaboration By KRISTYN ACHO Daily Arts Writer By making- their big debut at the notoriously female-domi- *** nated Lilith Fair Festival, Cana- Tegan and dian twin sisters Sala and musicians Tegan and Sara Sainthood Quin cornered Vapor themselves into the "girl power" indie genre. But with Sainthood, the Quin twins ar out yearning. Not only does the col- laborative venture mark the band's most unified album to date, but it's also its most tragic - the sisters' raw emotion is exposed by dark, deep-cutting lyrics that go beyond the act's typical bittersweet break- up ballads. But this isn't to say the band has let go of the bubbly, throwback sound that earned it its massive following. On Sainthood, the duo gradually reveals a more mature, nuanced side of itself that should captivate a wider range of listen- "Air Bud: Over-the-Hill Rock Band" are out, more th Por the firs ten mu oppose solo - genuinr After a Sh( Snt ous rele ed the world, in Lou what w Altho they c end up taking ness in comple to prove they're capable of ers. ran just tampon rock. This departure from the band's starters, Sainthood marks conventional pop persona began t time the sisters have writ- with 2007's The Con, produced by usic collaboratively - as Death Cab for Cutie's Chris Walla. d to composing the songs On that effort, the duo awkwardly and the result is the most experimented with wallowing e album of their career. vocals and intense drum beats that long tour for their previ- get muddled along with a largely melancholic demeanor. Sainthood, which enlists Walla once again, The t'wins continues to display an edgier side, but in a more focused, cohe- sive manner that never forsakes its )W off a more girl-pop roots. ianced side. Perhaps the most appealing element of the record is its matu- rity. In "Night Watch," supposedly written about the sisters' parents' ease The Con, they seclud- divorce, the duo vents its frustra- mselves from the outside tions over aggressive electronic holing up in a random city beats. With divisive lyrics like, "I isiana to write tracks for need distance from your body," the ould become Sainthood, twins say goodbye to the teen-pop ough some of the tracks facade that has been synonymous omposed together didn't with their band for so long. on the record, the under- Still, the album is full of tracks indicates the duo's serious- inside the band's lovesick comfort writing music dealing with zone - "On Directing" conjures up x issues like loneliness and images of a lth-grade girl scrib- THE DAILY NEEDS FINE ARTS WRITERS. BE FINE. WRITE FOR FINE ARTS. For an application, e-mail battlebots@umich.edu Canadas newest fashloebreakthrough sripes hling love letters in her notebook during study hall, with cutesy lyrics like "Go steady with me / I know it turns you off when I get talking like a teen." The song has an undeniably addictive beat and a message of unrequited love that waxes nostalgic for the poppier tracks of 2004's So Jealous. "Paperback Head" is a bitchin' slice of 'lOs disco that's a dead- ringer for early Madonna. Sara even boasts of "a material girl" in the track's hook, as if the electric beats and new wave sound weren't obvious enough. Fans nostalgic for the girl pop of Tegan and Sara circa So Jealous will be instantly love stricken. With Sainthood, Tegan and Sara compose an emotionally laden album with the self-assur- ance of indie veterans. Tegan and Sara powerfully end the album with "Someday," revealing their uncertainty regarding a post- break-up future: "I don't want to know what you'd do without me / I don't want to know what I'll be without you." The track perfectly concludes the album's emotion- ally palpable tone.