The CD starts off with "Opening Chord." A potshot at all the bands currently saturating the market with songs that sound the same. With lines like "original music is such a joke this week, number one hit records were never unique" and "you've probably heard this melody line before, I thought it up at the grocery store" you easily start to formulate your thoughts on the bands opinions towards all the bands out there today. And the line "for every next cool band, there's a hundred more" seals any doubt you had about how they feel. "Record Shop" is an infectious tribute to the music geeks inside of all of us. For those of us that spend months on end in a record store, just hanging out and sharing our thoughts on music, this song is for us. A chorus that begs to be sung along to, verses that are just as irresistible, and hooks that sink their teeth into you from beginning to end, this is the kind of song that rattles around in your head until you pop it right back into the CD player and listen to it over and over again. "Indie Rock Star" is another pop infectious tune that makes you sing along and play air guitar with. The chords are crunchy and punk like, but still have heavy pop stings to them. The vocals are comforting, very relaxed and inviting, perfect to sing along with. The bass is tight and bouncy, jumping easily between notes. The drums keep the backbone of the band straight with quick blows and rapid fire spits. Everything is nicely composed. And if the music wasn't enough, these guys are great at lyrics. Not too depressing, they still keep a real life touch to them that you can relate too, all the while keeping a very strong humor to them. The end of the song mellows out before the song comes to a close. Pop gems like these are hard to come by. Ones you just can't get out of your system, and that is what these are. "Next To You At Night" drops a bit of the pop feeling, and adds more of a punk kick to the music. The guitar screams through the song, sitting nicely behind vocals that are perfect in the mix. The bass shines through and makes itself clearly present, adding more power and a harsher sound to the song. The drums keep the beat nicely, pounding and hitting harder than on previous songs. Versatile, and able to keep their own sound, these guys show you why once you hear them you'll fall in love. "Matinee" starts out with some weird noises, giving you a puzzled look on your face. You'll wonder what this crap is. But just as you're about to throw the disc out of your player, it quickly jumps into its pop-punk beats that once again will make you smile. The verses aren't as infectious as most of the other songs on the disc, but the chorus will hit you like a ton of bricks. Smashing you with its bright hooks and infectious lyrics, you'll find yourself humming along to the song the first few times you listen to it, and then you'll be singing the song with pride. "Radio" closes out the CD with some more stabs at modern radio and its watered down content. As the radio turns, and different kinds of stuff fly by, the band slowly fades in. Soon the song is in full effect. A slow, mellow pop song that seems as if they might be mourning the good times they used to have with their "radio" and all the good music that used to be played when they were young. Depressing in a sense, but still very catchy, the CD is a winner.

Weston writes damn fine pop songs with a punk kick in the ass. Too catchy for punks not too like, and pop enough for modern culture to embrace, this band will please virtually everyone (unless you're into classical.) Other than that, pick up this CD! You won't regret it. An A+ effort if I ever saw one!

Weston/Doc Hopper: The Stepchildren of Rock

Weston: The Massed Albert Sounds

[Issue Five // February 1998]