The Rentals - Seven More Minutes

Arizona Daily Wildcat

Four years and at least as many delayed release-dates since Return of the Rentals, Weezer bassist Matt Sharp has finally delivered the second Rentals album. To say that Seven More Minutes has been hotly anticipated would be an understatement of almost criminal scale. Was our anticipation justified?

Well, kind of. The tracks on Seven More Minutes that reprise the same buzzpop feel as its predecessor are a lot of fun, especially "Getting By" (the single, predictably enough). But when Sharp strays from his formula, as on the ill-advised "Big Daddy C.," his efforts at originality verge on boring. Sharp's tragic flaw is that he spreads his ideas too thin - the songs drag on for too long, and two of the tracks on Seven More Minutes are essentially remakes of songs from 1995. He had four years, and yet he's digging into his back catalog for filler. Moogy, melodic, and upbeat, Seven More Minutes is a fun listen, but not a great album.

- tony carnevale