THE AFTER LIFE: The Rentals - "Friends of P"

It was hard to fathom that the absence of Matt Sharp would greatly affect the output of Weezer that fateful time post-Pinkerton. Of course you must discount the mainstream criticism that Pinkerton dealt with despite its now resolute status as an album that influenced an army of Weezer clones that has now in turn made Rivers Cuomo a clone of his former self.

Yet here we are, knee deep in greens, reds, and maladroits and not a sign of those ragged mop tops and nerd culture apologists to be found, replaced by a Rivers content to forgo large amounts of human contact and his former self to play songs as carefree and extroverted as the myriad of bands that followed the release of Pinkerton.

However, it's Matt Sharp and former Weezer bandmater Patrick Wilson's The Rentals that proved during Weezer's first hiatus (in between the self-titled debut and Pinkerton that should have stood as the obelisk that Sharp's contributions to Weezer were larger and more impressive than anyone imagined at that point. "Friends of P," whether a clever nod to the flash-in-the-pan band that featured Gibby Haynes and Johnny Depp singing about River Phoenix and Michael Stipe or just a clever pairing of words, was a hit in its own right in the midst of alternative's noticeable fragmentation of the mid-90s. The idea of a new wave revivalism, as we now know, was ahead of its time. Turning the big hair and bright makeup of Missing Persons and Flock of Seagulls into Euro-tinged art videos and flights of pop fancy just for shits and giggles was a stroke of genius, though it's more likely Sharp was just fulfilling a need in his own desire to create. Considering The Rentals' second album, not to mention his more country-flavored solo album from a couple years ago, it would seem to be the case.

Either way, "Friends of P" stands as a monument of what was and what could have been but perhaps a better, more democratic Weezer would have brought about the end times, so maybe Sharp's departure saved the world even if it was the beginning of the end of a fantastic-sounding Weezer.