Just accept that Weezer’s meme-driven covers album is good

A few facts:

• Weezer is good.
• “Africa” by Toto is good.
• The meme “Weezer cover ‘Africa’ by Toto” is good.
• Weezer covering a different Toto song first as a fakeout is good.
• Weezer’s cover of “Africa” by Toto is good.

Under most circumstances, the buck would stop here, but, Weezer being Weezer, things have escalated to the next level. Late on Wednesday night, the band surprise-dropped Weezer (Teal Album), which is made up solely of covers including, of course, “Africa,” and a-ha’s “Take on Me.”

For a little more context, Toto’s “Africa” has taken on an unaccountably robust online life since its release in 1982, spawning an entire subreddit devoted to covers of the song, as well as, naturally, a Pitbull semi-cover for the Aquaman soundtrack and a mysterious installation in the middle of the Namib desert.

That Teal is now a part of the Weezer canon is, again, thanks to a meme started by the then-14-year-old Mary. That there’s now an entire album built around it feels improbable, though it fits neatly into the way that Weezer have generally presented themselves as smart weirdos (as well as the resurgence of “oldies” in popular culture — see the soundtracks to Guardians of the Galaxy, Deadpool, etc.) and have become something of a meme on their own.

So, yes, The Teal Album’s existence is sort of a fluke, but here’s one last fact for you: It rules. “Happy Together”? Slaps. “Billie Jean”? Total bop. As per every new Weezer album, the general reaction seems pretty squarely divided, but The Teal Album is indisputably a bunch of flavors that taste great together. “Good memes + Weezer + ’80s hits covers” is a winning formula, so stop pretending you’re above fun and join the rest of us in being right in enjoying the album.