by Ron DePasquale
Any Weezer fans disappointed with their comeback albums would be better off listening to a younger set of geek rockers who go by the name of Ozma but could just as easily be called "Weezer circa Blue Album." The Californians have got the fuzzed-out guitars, loud drums, vocal harmonies, and synthesizer down just right. The band's apparent obsession with outer space -- Ozma was the name of the first search for signs of extraterrestrial life -- is taken to a new level on the first part of this album, called "The Russian Coldfusion." It features "Flight of Yuri Gagarin" and "Landing of Yuri Gagarin," the first man in space. There's more nostalgia for the recent past here, which recovering Tetris addicts will notice with the adaptation of "Korobeiniki," a traditional Russian folk song popularized in the 1990s video game. The first EP blends together while "The Bootytraps EP" -- on which every song has the word "booty" -- mines the familiar ground of love lost and unattainable. There's both catchy music and lyrics, as in "The Business of Getting Down": "If you'd drop by to see me again, I'd open up the door/And get down to all that matters now, which is getting down once more."