According to ringleader Matt Sharp, the Rentals' new EP, 'The Story of 1,000 Seasons Past' is, despite its title, more of a look forward than a look back. "It's kind of like the first chapter of this year," Sharp tells Spinner. Previously, the Rentals were closely associated with Weezer -- Sharp was a full-time member of both bands, as was Weezer's drummer Pat Wilson.

"I certainly see those records -- the first Rentals record and the first Weezer record ... and then the second Rentals record and the second Weezer record -- as being somewhat of companion albums," Sharp tells Spinner. "They were written around the same period, and we were influential to each other."

For this "new chapter," Sharp is leading the Rentals through a tight schedule with specific goals. The band plans to release a new EP every three months this year, as well as scoring original music for a new short film each week. While it no longer sounds like a Weezer project, the music is liable to take sharp turns at any moment, or go in bold new directions as dictated by the films or by other whims.

"Sometimes It's hard to talk about it because we're still so in the center of the process," Sharp says. "We're discovering it as our audience is discovering it."