Quirky nerd rockers Weezer first put a dent in fuzzy guitar rock in 1994. The video for their song, “Buddy Holly,” featured the band playing the fictitious Arnold’s from “Happy Days.” Twenty-seven years later, Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo is paying tribute to his orchestral pop heroes on “OK Human” (Atlantic). Gushing lyrically about the likes of Harry Nilsson, Francoise Hardy and the Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds,” Weezer ditched guitars for a 38-piece orchestra and the result is a plush, retro-pop record that began as a collection of demos that go for the lighting of a candelabra versus the dankness of a mosh pit. Weezer is more like a philosophy on “OK” than a band with a trademark sound. You can barely hear the rattling of a Magic 8-Ball in the background as the band seems to ask itself, “What sound should we go for next?” The album is a 180 from their originally planned album for 2020. Titled “Van Weezer,” it was to be a snarling guitar tribute to Cuomo’s pop-metal idols Van Halen, but with touring derailed, the Weezer boys, who doth approach being Weezer geezers on this disc, go for a nice period parlor-piece rather than merely a throwback album. Schmaltzy strings more than make up for an axe-less album, that with its title, winks and nudges at Radiohead’s own “OK Computer” LP from 1997. Cuomo is dedicated to his art, which one day is Rembrandt, the next day Renoir. Beauty is truly in the ear of the beholder.

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Foo Fighters’ pointman, Dave Grohl, shoots for David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” on the Foos’ latest offering, “Medicine at Midnight” (RCA), proving once again that the chameleons of rock continue to surprise their fans. “Complacency and feeling stagnant drives bands into the ground,” Grohl said some time ago. Twenty-six years into their career, “Medicine” is what the doctor has prescribed: a fun, poppy record that is probably their most mainstream album ever. Whether Foo fans will embrace this remains to be seen, but songs such as the title track along with “Chasing Birds,” do have a Bowie-ish lilt to the vocals. Make no mistake – this is still a Foo Fighters record and sounds like one. The church of latterday Foos preaches more broadly but remains faithful to what made the band such a success after Grohl formed the group, post-Nirvana. With no touring, this record also feels at home in your home, which is to say that nothing is presumably lost on not getting to see the band perform the album on stage first.

Being a garage band, the Foos can still get nostalgic, in this case, for some more laid back tunes rather than music to trash a hotel room by. So rather than rue the fact that you can’t hear the band live for quite a while yet, enjoy the chance to do something different with a Foos record: Relish it in your living room. There is still some joy to be found.

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The pop heartthrob Shawn Mendes’ new record is all about being lovestruck. The album, “Wonder” (Island Records), written about his pop star peer and girlfriend Camila Cabello, is sweet and syrupy. On this, his fourth record, Mendes should be spreading his creative wings, but instead, he gushes too much. It’s like Shawn just got into a relationship and won’t shut up about it. He’s over the moon and you’re bored to death. There is some funk (“Teach Me How To Love”), and some fans may find Mendes getting adventurous, but the album is a one trick pony. And on the Justin Bieber duet, “Monster,” the two Tiger Beat poster boys lament the price of fame and come off sounding unappreciative and egotistical. While “Wonder” hints at what Mendes might be capable of doing, it might take another album or two before his confidence translates to more than fluffy love. Mega-fame is a lonely highway and Mendes, 22, sounds like he’s motoring with just a driver’s permit.