Weezer, Thursday and Friday at the Warped Tour

For many kids heavily into the current indie-rock scene, there's one band ultimately responsible for making them tune in, turn on and rock out: Weezer. Weezer has recorded music that touches every microscopic aspect of their lives, right down to their wardrobes. You'll easily pick out the Weezer boys in the Warped Tour hordes this week, modeling a wardrobe of tight T-shirts, zip-up sweat shirts and Clark Kent glasses. The girls can be a little harder to spot—watch for ultrahip haircuts (black-dyed hair is a good sign) or a series of one-inch buttons on their purses with sayings like "IF YOU'RE CLOSE ENOUGH TO READ THIS THEN BACK OFF!"

Weezer, in many ways, are like a gateway drug—the marijuana of music—extremely influential in ways you likely never would have guessed back in 1994, when they seemingly appeared out of nowhere, churning out radio-friendly songs like "Undone (The Sweater Song)" and "Buddy Holly" and quirky, Spike Jonze-directed videos that stuck them in old Happy Days episodes. For some people, Weezer was a mere experiment—fuzzy-yet-jagged, nerdy-yet-embracing power pop to be listened to only on weekends with friends, something you hoped your schoolyard enemies wouldn't find out about. Still others, though, became brain-fried, bona fide Weezer junkies and started listening to the band everywhere: in their rooms with the volume turned down really low so their parents wouldn't find out; in the car just before trig class; during their lunch breaks at Baskin-Robbins, between smuggled scoops of Jamocha almond fudge and cookies 'n' cream. For addicts like these, Weezer came down to an us-or-them mentality—you were either part of the club or you were just some kid messing around with that "alternative music."

Since the 1996 release of their last album, Pinkerton, a lot of kids have either gotten into harder music or embraced the burgeoning emo scene in the form of bands like the Promise Ring and the Get Up Kids. It has been a long time since they've been able to hear the real stuff. But now, with a new album planned for the fall, the Weezer Army can feel free to OD all over again. (Jeremy Scherer)

WEEZER PLAYS THE VANS WARPED TOUR, ARROWHEAD POND PARKING LOT, 2695 E. KATELLA AVE., ANAHEIM, (714) 704-2500. THURS.-FRI., JUNE 29-30, NOON-UNTIL IT ENDS. $25. SEE POP & ROCK LISTINGS FOR FULL FEST LINEUP.