Brace yourself for a peppy punk rock record destined to satisfy the taste buds of high school aged rock fans across America. Mest’s lyrics are carefree and silly, while their sound is upbeat and catchy on their major label debut Wasting Time. The Chicago-based band has been quickly picking away at their guitars and banging their drums since they were mere youngins.

The group is comprised of cousins Tony and Matt Lovato, who lived across the street from one another and played together since they were seven-year-olds. In high school they teamed up with their friends Jeremiah Rangel and Nick Gigler, who also had been playing together for a while. It’s no wonder the group is so tight on the project, leaving the listener with a well made and enjoyable recording.

The band is clearly influenced by some of punk’s early prized bands like The Ramones and The Clash, as demonstrated on the disc’s opening track “Long Days Long Nights”. They shift styles to a more modern poppy punk sound on tracks like “Slow Motion” and “Girl for Tonight”, giving off an MXPX or Blink 182 vibe.

Vocally Tony sounds like Green Day’s Billie Joe or Goldfinger’s John Feldman. The comical Green Day style comes to mind on the disc’s highlight “What’s the Dillio?” The tune is obviously a radio friendly track with it’s sing a long course and funky hooks. The track bears similarity to something Sublime would have recorded.

The only problem with Wasting Time is the fact that all the songs start to sound the same by the time a listener gets to track 10. Listeners will probably be able to predict what is to come on the album once they get half way through. Although the group does a good job spreading out their influences, 16 songs may have been a bit too many for their first project.