Blake Murphy Sports Writing

In the inaugural episode of Columbia House Party, hosts Jake Goldsbie and Blake Murphy dive into the Weezer’s sophomore album, the cult classic and infamously divisive Pinkerton. The record, a follow up to their wildly successful Blue album, came after a short hiatus that saw headman Rivers Cuomo undergo extensive surgery and commence studies at Harvard University. Disillusioned with his once-dream of being a rockstar, Cuomo had originally planned for Pinkerton to be a rock opera. Although that idea was abandoned, the album’s namesake was a character described as being not too unlike a touring rock star. Find out more about Cuomo’s struggles with the album, letters received by a particular Japanese fan and which big-name director the band turned down in this week’s podcast.