It's amazing, and a testament to how great the Beatles were, that so many bands can find so many new ways to take them places. The Weeklings make them straightfoward power pop and punk, but really sounding like the early 60s. Could they have played at the Cavern Club, right alongside the early Beatles? I'd like to think so, and then share in Beatlemania.

Read more here, with the band kind enough to answer a few questions for me.

Andrea Weiss: For those who aren't familiar with you, could you give us a short musical history?

Bob Burger: Wow! We organized officially as a band in 2014, after performing together for a while in Glen Burtnik’s Beatle Bash series of shows. After that, we soon recorded our first album, which was patterned from the sound of the early Beatles. Since then, we refined and progressed our sound both sonically and compositionally. We are still a power pop band, but we are branching out a bit.

Glen Burtnik: For years I had an annual show called “Beatles Bash,” in which we’d celebrate the anniversaries of each Beatles album. I had been including members of what would become The Weeklings in these shows. Then there was the year we celebrated the earliest Beatles albums, the arrangements of which were almost entirely 4-piece quartet numbers requiring very limited extra musicians. We discovered working like that was easy and enjoyable for the four of us. So we began doing shows as The Weeklings, which led to our making records, writing songs and getting airplay.

AW: I can tell you're taking the Beatles as an influence, but is there anyone else?

GB: Tons of influences, primarily from the rich popular music of the sixties. We naturally find old-school style so much more fun for us than modern music. We’re older guys who gravitate toward more classic approach. Antique, really!

BB: Yes. We’ve drawn from a number of influences, although the Beatles has been at the top of the list.  We tend to steal short snippets and place them here and there. I hear Todd Rundgren, Rolling Stones, Badfinger, Steppenwolf, Yes and others.

AW: I love how you rev up the sound of the early Beatles. Does that sound lend itself to that treatment?

BB: I’m not really sure. We were first trying to capture the early sound, but after a while we found that it was cool to make it a little heavier. Hopefully, we are just expressing ourselves a bit.

GB:The Beatles pretty much set the standard. Before them, bands had accordions and pianists and saxophones and whatever. These guys showed up from Northern England and created the template for rock music: a rhythm guitar, a lead guitar, a bass guitar and a drummer. That’s our approach – maybe just a little more umph and distortion.

AW: I like that your lyrics are clear and direct. Do you think power pop is naturally like that?

BB: I do, although some power pop bands don’t stick to that. Like, 10cc is not like that. But Badfinger, Big Star, The Raspberries, and others stay with the clear lyrics. I can’t guarantee we will always do that tho.

GB: Thanks. I guess “power pop” isn’t about poetry as much as attitude.

AW: Do you think power pop lends itself to happy, positive, rocking music and lyrics?

BB: Yes, that kind of defines it. I like happy, positive and rocking!

GB: Well, no. I mean, I think you can go either way. The Stones, The Kinks, and The Who could be considered bad boys, whereas The Beatles, Badfinger, and The Raspberries might be perceived as nice guys.

AW: At what club was the album recorded?

GB: I don’t remember! I think The Strand Theater in Lakewood and maybe some tracks are from Daryl’s House Club.

BB: At the Strand Theatre and Daryl’s House Club.

AW: Where did the name The Weeklings come from?

BB: We made it up.

GB: We met at the gym.

AW: What would you tell someone just starting out in music?

BB: It’s a long road, and you really have to have perseverance! Play out live as much as you can!

GB: It’s a zany career choice. Only stay with it if you love it more than anything. Best of luck to you!