From the Vintage Bin: Weston - Matinee

It's a shame how few band in music realize that they owe basically everything that they play is somehow inspired by Weston. Back in the mid-90's the four piece pop punk band from Bethelehem, PA were the kings of the Philadelphia scene. They never exploded into mainstream music, but even famous bands like Weezer contributes Weston as part of their musical inspiration. Weston went through a lot of musical changes and by the time they got to their third LP 1997's Matinee they went into a much more Indie Pop sound.

The albums plays out like a movie by beginning and ending with the sound of a projector. To even further push the "movie" theme the lyrics are written in the main booklet in a "screenplay" format.

The opening track (appropriately named Opening Chord) is about how unoriginal music is. Lead singer Jim Synder sings "You probably heard this melody line before/I thought it up at the Grocery store/So stop your engines and start the press/I probably ripped you off, yeah that's my guess". The theme of unoriginal music continues into the next track Record Store, the closing track Radio and the fourth track Indie Rock Star when Jim chants "We're just a plain old indie rock band/We're bigger than the Beatles ever were" The stand out track on this album is also the shortest track. The 2:25 song Mrs. Perfect Girl is everything that a good old-fashion pop punk should be about. It's short, it's sweet, it's to the point and most importantly, it's very catchy

Am I saying that this is an album that should be owned by everyone on the planet? Not at all, but this is the type of CD that when you listen to it you want to pick up a guitar and start your own band. That's why I'm happy that Weston is back together and touring again, so go check out one of thier shows by checking their website www.myspace.com/westonrockspa for updates

(Editor's Note: Two months after this article, Weston broke up again)