Review Summary: A collection of songs about unrequited love that never got the love it deserved.
It is common for 90s pop punk narratives to be told through the eyes of high school outcasts. Albums like
Dookie and
Enema of the State are some of the first that to come to mind. Topics typically revolve around shitty situations such as getting picked on to getting your heart broken to getting beat up. But they can also take more rebellious, defiant tones against school, popular culture, the government, and anything else deemed part of the "system." While pop punk records tend to equally balance these elements,
Got Beat Up by Weston is substantially more wimpy than it is rebellious. But this is not a bad thing.
Got Beat Up's lyrics are the epitome of self-deprecation. The two vocalists, Dave Weston and Chuck Saltern, trade lines throughout the album about how stupid, clumsy, shy, and dorky they are. "No Kind of Superstar" best describes the collective protagonist in
Got Beat Up's story as "the fat kid on the bus everybody's jerk to." This kid has low self-esteem, piss-poor social skills, and has a strong fear of being forgotten or left behind. His sad love life is awkwardly comedic and relatable. He gets upset about Rene from "Me and Rene" flirting with other guys, even though she makes it pretty clear they aren't official and he just won't take a hint. Heather from "Heather Lewis" and Weston had a connection in high school, but after having left college, Heather completely ignores him and his desperate attempts to rekindle a spark. "Varsity Sweater," one of the few songs where things are going well for Weston, is followed by the title track "Got Beat Up," where you can safely guess what happens.
The songs themselves are catchy and fun to sing along to. Simple power chord progressions and sparse guitar solos that rarely stray from the core melody make
Got Beat Up an easy, predictable listen. The band's duet vocal stylings provide pleasant, creative harmonies on every song. These songs are infectious anthems of teenage youth, truly rivaling similar contemporary acts such as Blink-182 on a sonic level. Why Weston never achieved mainstream success will always remain a mystery to me. Weston was less abrasive and offensive than other pop punk bands at time. Maybe it was this lack of shock value in their music? Maybe they weren't in-your-face enough? Whatever the case was, they definitely had the sound down pat. But something was apparently missing in their image.
Regardless of commercial success, Weston made it blatantly clear who they are on this record. There is little to no subtlety in the points they try to get across. Every song is direct and straightforward. And while openness and blunt honesty is fine, Weston walks this tightrope of honesty over a hot pit of molten cheese. Lines like "You got a lot of nerve, say you want to be my girl, when I saw you and him kissing in front of the school, go!" might exceed some listeners' lactose tolerance. This album practically oozes cheese. A little more depth to the lyrics wouldn't have hurt. Weston attempts a slightly more metaphorical concept with the acoustic closing track, "Heartbreak Sandwich."
He whines, "The picture we ended up painting was of a plate and a half-eaten sandwich, meaning we always took what we wanted and left the rest," which is still cheesy, but relatively deep compared to the rest of the record. While it's silly to expect to have your mind thematically blown through Weston's songwriting, more charmingly clever songs like "Heartbreak Sandwich" would've been appreciated. But overall, each song serves their purpose well: to tell the story of a self-conscious high schooler who never gets his way. And as a fitting conclusion to the pessimistic tale of
Got Beat Up, there is no happy ending. "I'm going to let you go on with your life while I trudge through mine." The acoustic guitar rings its final bittersweet chord. All Weston hopes for is that they're "something you'll remember."
