Weezer Name New Bassist

Weezer has named Scott Shriner their bass player for their upcoming tour. The news follows the announcement that regular bassist Mikey Welsh had checked into a psychiatric hospital in Boston for undisclosed reasons.

Welsh had previously stated that he would be taking a leave of absence for a "private medical condition" but was expected to rejoin band mates -- vocalist/guitarist Rivers Cuomo, guitarist Brian Bell and drummer Patrick Wilson -- in Los Angeles for their most recent video shoot of "Island in the Sun." Welsh did not make trip back to California and the video shoot went on without him.

Weezer's tour with openers Cold kicks off on September 11th in San Jose, California. The band is also planning a European tour for October.

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Song Stories

“Time to Pretend”

MGMT | 2008

Listening to MGMT’s breakthrough song, one might interpret it as being about the excesses of rock stardom, but it’s actually about the duo’s pet praying mantis. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden told Rolling Stone they got the idea from the insect's jerky movements. The mantis died, but the two bandmates kept the egg sack and allowed the hundreds of eggs to hatch. “We tried to name them all, but they died after a day,” said Goldwasser, with VanWyngarden chiming in, “But the praying mantis dance inspired us.”

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