I’m old enough to remember when Weezer was, if not exactly groundbreaking, at least a vital-seeming band with a real point of view that was a genuine alternative to the outrageously self-important mid-90s rock mainstream.

It’s been years since I gave a thought to them as an interesting band, or to the idea of “selling out” as a legitimate topic of discussion among music fans, so I interpreted the above video more like a museum piece than as the work of an “artist” I once cared about. Let’s consider this cover song as part of an exhibition tentatively titled “The Post-Everything Rock Band.”

I’m most curious about how we (meaning Weezer and the people who might at one point have given a shit about them) got here. How did we go from a nerdy-but-genuine band with equal penchants for detuned, heavy guitars and falsetto harmonies, to a group whose apparent disdain for any kind of intelligence-based respectability makes Bob Dylan’s “Wiggle Wiggle” sound like “Shipbuilding”? The difference between Weezer in 1994 and Weezer in 2011 is the difference between unpretentiousness and anti-intellectualism, between underdog charm and meathead arrogance. They’ve become so relentlessly dumb and shameless that they’ve effectively vanquished any last remaining arguments about authenticity in pop music.

Do they mean it? Do they actually care about the State Farm Insurance theme song? These kinds of questions have no meaning anymore. And since Weezer themselves entered the public consciousness at a time when earnestness and severity were the order of the day–a hideous time when bands like Candlebox and Silverchair were popular–and since they’ve outlasted most of their dour grunge counterparts, I almost respect them for finally breaking this camel’s back.

Still, remember when they actually wrote songs?