Caught in the Carousel

Weston

This Is My Voice And This Is My Heart: Live at Maxwell's 27 June 08
Black Shirt/Chunksaah

Weston

Weston may have never been a household name in the United States, but to pogo-ing Tri-State area kids, the Pennsylvania-bred foursome were, and remain, pop-punk heroes. Weston's first release in nearly a decade unveils the band's contribution to a movement typically only accredited to West Coast acts like Blink-182 (circa 1994).

In mid-2008, Weston regrouped at the famous Maxwell's rock club in Hoboken, New Jersey, right across the Hudson River from lower Manhattan, to record a live album to a crowd of over two hundred loyal fans (now of legal drinking age). The resulting live record, This Is My Voice And This Is My Heart remains true to the band's every element: songs full of teenage angst, choruses belted out in unison with the crowd singing along with guitarists Dave Weston and James Snyder, a set-list interspersed with self-deprecating jokes, and an energy only caught performing to an audience who grew up with their music. On the one-minute hit single, "Got Beat Up," bassist Jesse Short jokes, "there is no need for that, we're still on stage" and as fans begin to chant the group's name during "Heartbreak Sandwich" it demonstrates Weston's penchant for crowd-pleasing, insisting the gathering clap in time to the music.

A band known for their love of live recordings - those that leave in all the intricacies, botched solos, and sayings only the moment can catch - Weston's live Maxwell recording is arguably their most honest album to date. While Weston may have lost their cult following towards the end of their formal years with Universal subsidiary Mojo Records, the quartet has undoubtedly recaptured the hearts of all the kids that fell in love with them in their youth - even if those fans aren't teenagers anymore.

—Liz Imler
www.MusicSoldiers.com