Weezer to Redo

NY (Top40 Charts) - In a curious move, Weezer, with strong encouragement from their record company, have decided to shoot a second video for their present single, "Island in the Sun." While the first clip, directed by Marcos Siega (Blink-182, Papa Roach), was a relatively non-conceptual piece (one that flirted with TRL success for a few days), this second version, to be lensed by boy-wonder artiste Spike Jonze, promises to be something entirely more.

Ironically, Weezer had said previously that what attracted them to Siega's original treatment was its simplicity and the fact that it in no way involved an island, but what's good for the goose isn't always good for the Interscope. The label apparently felt Jonze's penchant for eye-catching quirk could do the single better justice, and so Rivers Cuomo and the gang will shoot "Island" Version 2.0 tomorrow in Los Angeles.

However, Weezer may have to tear a page from the Guns N' Roses video training manual and hold a sign aloft asking, "Where's Mikey?" (as GN'R did for Izzy Stradlin when the guitarist was a no-show on their "Don't Cry" set). Bassist Mikey Welsh has left the band indefinitely and returned to his native Boston because of a "private medical condition."

Besides preparing to shoot with Jonze, Weezer are deep into rehearsals for a lengthy fall tour (in which they'll be most curiously paired with metal-heads Cold) and writing oodles of material for the follow-up to this year's self-titled "Green Album," which they hope to record this year. All of this has left the band no choice but to begin thinking about a replacement for Welsh, who himself replaced original bassist Matt Sharp in 1998. While auditions have begun, there is no official word yet on who is trying out.