Weezer Has Struck Gold With ‘We Might As Well Be Strangers’ Off The Upcoming Gold Album

Been stoked about a Weezer single in 2026 was not on my bingo card.

Summer is finally here and there’s some exciting gear reviews coming up soon, including an overdrive pedal made in Switzerland by RhPf Electronics, and a DIY Tele kit from GuitarKitWorld. But before we can get there I am busy constructing my annual summer playlist. A new guitar-heavy track from Weezer, “We Might As Well Be Stranger” has quickly become the centerpiece of this playlist, with near repeat plays from me.

I’ve always been a Weezer guy who has an appreciation for their sometimes quantity over quality approach to songwriting. Their later career discography has been almost like an unfiltered stream of consciousness. But honestly, I can get behind it because so few bands operate that way and it’s clear they’re having fun and operating on their terms. Unfortunately it’s been pretty hard for me to get too excited about much of their music outside of the occasional track, with the White Album being the last front-to-back record I really loved.

Their 20th album, the untitled “Gold Album” will be out on August 21st, and there’s quite a bit of hype for this monumental album. Between the gold color and the status as 20th release, I feel like the album has sort of an unfairly high bar in some fan’s minds. But this latest single has me actually feeling that the band may be cooking up something special.

“We Might As Well Be Strangers” features Karly Hartzman of Wednesday, a band I was admittedly unfamiliar with but now super curious about. It’s also a freaking banger. In classic Weezer fashion it’s a poppy earworm with huge guitar sounds. There’s that classic wall of crunch and even a really fun lead melody that’s moody and shred-y at the same time. There’s also no shortage of darker lyrics and awkward storylines, but Weezer is kind of the only band that could make “thank you for the valium” and “You were Nancy, I was Vicious” sound kind of nerdy and not edgy.

This song rocks and it is cool to have another classic Weezer song in the pipeline as we continue to see the guitar return to mainstream and popular music. While I typically focus on younger bands, and will continue to, on this site, you do sometimes have to revisit the bands that get you into the guitar in the first place. Nice to see Weezer still has their fastball.