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Kip Berman of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

1. Which song from Pinkerton is your favorite?
"The Good Life." I remember listening to that and thinking, "I also don't want to be an old man anymore" — even though I was in high school. Still, somehow I felt like I could relate, like it was about not wanting to be uptight and lame all the time. I was lame and uptight all the time, and despite lots of sugar in my tea, I've sort of remained that way. Oh well, still a great song.

2. Do you have a specific memory tied to listening to the album?
I was dating a girl who always suggested that Pains should sound more like Weezer. I totally agreed, but it's hard, ya know? For starters, I can't shred. Rivers can shred. Also, they have big Marshall amps and I have a Roland Jazz Chorus (it sounds like its name, for those who are wondering). And their songs are better constructed, they have pre-choruses, harmonies, riffs, modulations. Maybe someday we'll get there.

3. Has Pinkerton, or Weezer in general, influenced your band at all?
Yeah, I think we referenced the dry heavy guitar and unaffected vocals a lot when working on our second album, but the British people we were recording with weren't super familiar with it. They'd always be like, "Every American band we ever meet won't shut up about bloody Weezer." Unnatural amounts of Weezer love is sort of a uniquely American thing — because they sound so American. I really like that. USA! USA! USA!

4. What are your thoughts on Weezer, circa 2010?
It's really unfair when people consider their first two albums total genius perfection (to me they are), but then turn around and say everything else they've ever done is worthless. It's a weird take on a songwriter/band who continues to write really good rock songs, and it tends to mythologize those first records a bit too much. I mean, "Pork and Beans" was a good song, and "Island in the Sun" was great too. It's like, they wrote two five-star records that defined a generation and continues to hold tremendous influence, which is about two more than just about every band ever will ever do.

AJ Wolosenko of Your Youth

1. Which song from Pinkerton is your favorite?
"Tired of Sex." It's so raw and aggressive — the opening feedback, the thumping drums, the fuzzed-out bass...and then the absolutely ripping solo. Plus, the second verse is killer, pitch-perfect, building-the-momentum, with the guitars edging out and pushing into the red, and Rivers really stretching his voice, leading you right into that solo. The whole song just kicks with that combo of being out of control and totally tight. When they snap into the half-time at the end, it feels like they're all banging on their gear at the same time, and it's magically working out.

It's also one of those amazing first songs on an album that sets the stage for what's to come. And in this case, I feel like it's sort of a great middle finger to people coming in from The Blue Album. Because Pinkerton's not quite the In Utero to The Blue Album's Nevermind, but in some ways it is. And they establish that pretty quickly and pretty clearly.

2. Do you have a specific memory tied to listening to the album?
I actually most remember buying it and not liking it. Just being confused by it. Listening to it for the first time with another friend who was a big Weezer fan, and both of us sort of looking at each other like, "Hey, what is this? Maybe let's listen to â�‚��œEl Scorchoâ�‚��„� again." And then coming back to it a little later, living with it for a while, and ending up thinking it was cool and dark and totally about where I was at the time.

But I also really remember when it was this fucking enigma. It's become much more "understood" recently, but there really was a point in time when it was like, "Is this the last thing they had to say?" And that gave it this really interesting position. There were those whispers about Songs from the Black Hole and the whole leg-correction surgery thing, but you really didn't know. You had these two magnificent albums and then a total disappearance. It gave Pinkerton this different kind of weighted importance.

3. Has Pinkerton, or Weezer in general, influenced your band at all?
Clearly, the short answer is yes — Weezer's a huge influence. Your Youth is a loud pop band, and Weezer is a big touchstone in that regard. Some people have tried calling us out on that, using it as some sort of pejorative, but we think the comparison is a compliment. It means people are getting what we're trying to do. Even if they don't like it, they get it ... The other part is what [Rivers is] singing about/his attitude. The first two Weezer records were about embracing the fact that they were weird and quirky and charming, and then wrapping it up in Marshall stacks. I get a lot from that, both as a guy listening to a rock record and as a guy in a rock band trying to write songs.

4. What are your thoughts on Weezer, circa 2010?
I mean, there are clearly two Weezers — the line in the sand coming in between their first two records and the rest of it. The first Weezer is one of my favorite bands of all-time; the second one exists. Even your heroes get old. Even though I don't listen to their albums anymore, it doesn't take away from how much I enjoy what they did. Plus, "Pork and Beans" is good. Listen to it again. Loud. I swear.