The last entry in Weezer’s seasonal EP series is here. After dropping Spring, Summer, and Autumn installments, the band has graced us with SZNZ: Winter in honor of today’s solstice.

When Rivers Cuomo was discussing the SZNZ project on GMA in the summer of 2021, he teased Winter as a “sad acoustic, Elliott Smith-style” release. I’m not sure that’s how I’d describe these seven songs. There’s some quiet pretty stuff like the intros to “I Want A Dog” and “Sheraton Commander,” but those songs eventually explode into distortion and veer off into realms that remind me of Queen and Fiery Furnaces respectively.

On the whole, the EP is less a pastiche of Either/Or or XO than a decent approximation of the classic Weezer sound, something that scratches the old itch without truly sending the endorphins rushing. “I can’t throw this basketball into my own arms!” Cuomo proclaims at one point over chugging power chords that call back to the band’s Blue Album heyday. “Dark Enough To See The Stars” is like “My Name Is Jonas” mashed together with “Only In Dreams” (I know that’s an enticing comparison, but please lower your expectations). Consider me pleasantly surprised.

Stream SZNZ: Winter below.

SZNZ: Winter is out now on Crush Music/Atlantic.