If you're looking to glean some dating tips from your iTunes library, you might well avoid the songs of Rivers Cuomo. Hiding behind an oversized pair of black-rimmed specs for the past fifteen years, he's always seemed so shy and bookish that critics practically made up the term "geek rock" to describe his band Weezer's music, and 1996's angsty Pinkerton is often cited as a watershed moment in emo history. And Cuomo would be the first to admit his relationship advice isn't worth much — he told Dr. Drew as much when he called in for an awkward guest spot on Loveline just last month.

That said, the best of his songs read like a brutally honest and candid journal of one truly hopeless romantic. If you're the type that learns from the mistakes of others, the book of Weezer is full of them, and their new album Raditude, out tomorrow, should provide more. Here are a few lessons:

1. Give your partner some breathing room. If you were one of those introverted teens who got into Weezer with their 1994 debut, colloquially known as The Blue Album — a classic of '90s alt-rock by anyone's measure — it might have taken you a few listens to realize just how insecure and possessive the words of "No One Else" really are. Amidst a rush of sugar-high guitars and sing-along harmonies, Cuomo's complaints about his girlfriend find him embracing his inner chauvinist: "When I'm away, she puts the make-up on the shelf / When I'm away, she never leaves the house / I want a girl who laughs for no one else." It's no coincidence that his girl dumps him between this song and the next on the album, fittingly titled "The World Has Turned And Left Me Here."

2. Don't be too forward. With Weezer's second album Pinkerton, Cuomo really did let it all hang out. One moment he's opting out of a relationship in favor of masturbation, the next he's fantasizing about a Japanese schoolgirl who just sent him a fan letter in broken English — all amidst a din of raunchy guitars and moaning, off-key backup vocals. For a band that had introduced itself with polished pop hits like "Buddy Holly" just a couple years prior, it was too much too soon — the fans and critics quickly abandoned Weezer and, for a moment, it seemed like Cuomo had come on too strong and left nothing to the imagination. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly a few years later, Cuomo likened the experience to "getting really drunk at a party and spilling your guts in front of everyone and feeling incredibly great and cathartic about it, and then waking up the next morning and realizing what a complete fool you made of yourself." Ouch.

3. It's easy to get trapped in an abusive relationship. Ironically, even though Pinkerton's initial failure temporarily unraveled the band, it was its slow rise as a cult classic that gave them incentive to return five years later with 2001's Green Album. But still traumatized by Pinkerton's reception, Cuomo made sure his comeback record was as impersonal as possible (even proudly telling Rolling Stone that the album contained "no feeling... no emotion"), and Weezer has been trying to fit in as an arena-rock band ever since. Curiously, many of the diehards remain loyal to the band nearly a decade later — as if Cuomo's a bad-habit relationship they just can't shake. When you love a damaged person, you're only shortchanging yourself.

4. Make the move yourself. Even though it might not be a great song, "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To" — the lead single from Raditude — is all about waiting for your love interest to make the first move. Better advice can be found in "Photograph" — a little gem hidden way back on The Green Album — wherein Cuomo reminds us that the waiting game is just a waste of time. "If you want it, you can have it / But you gotta learn to reach out there and grab it!"

5. Act your age. Speaking of Raditude, it seems like Cuomo is finally beginning to loosen up and have a little fun. But it's hard to take a thirty-nine-year-old man seriously when he's trying to fit in with kids a third his age on teen-pop tributes like "The Girl Got Hot" and "I'm Your Daddy." And yeah, a line like "I'm your daddy" really shouldn't be used by anybody ever again (please?), but coming from an actual dad who's actually going bald? That's just creepy.