Weezer announces new album 'Hurley,' moves from major label to independent

Rivers Cuomo

Credit: Katie Hasty

By the power of Twitter, Weezer has announced a new album release. Rivers Cuomo and Co. have signed to Epitaph for “Hurley,” the follow-up to their last “Raditude.” The album will be out in a little more than a month on Sept. 14.

Last night (Aug. 4), Epitaph head Brett Gurewitz Tweeted “Rivers, Pat, Brian and Scott, Welcome to Epitaph homies! FT=W=.” A few hours later, frontman Cuomo wrote, “Hey, Weezer is happy to announce our signing to @epitaphrecs and release of new album "Hurley" on Sept. 14.”

No word yet on production credits or additional release details, though the band will likely be previewing new material on the road during August and September: they have Bumbershoot, Sonic Boom, Leeds, Mile High and Reading on their festival itinerary, with some headlining U.S. dates in between.

“Raditude” was released last year via Geffen, the rock band’s label home since the start of their career. This marks a move from major label to indie for the first time ever for them.

Independent rock label Epitaph is prepping new releases from Bad Religion and Social Distortion for this year as well, and is home to other artists like Rancid, Alkaline Trio and Refused.

Sept. 14 is shaping up to be a big day at music retail, with new releases from Kanye West, Robert Plant, of Montreal, David Archuleta, Linkin Park, Jamey Johnson, The Killers' Brandon Flowers and Zac Brown Band.

Katie Hasty
Managing Editor

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After five years as a columnist and editor at Billboard, Katie Hasty joined HitFix in 2009 for music and film reporting out of New York. The Midwest native has worked as a writer, music promoter and in A&R since 1999 and performs with her band Numbers And Letters.