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Yes! A common thread of musical genius has yet surfaced again. Matt
Squire has produced many a popular and talented musical group,
including: All Time Low, Thrice, Hit The Lights
and even Panic! At The Disco. He's the kind of producer that
you would kill to work with and he recently picked up another project.
The Maine is a band that first said hello about 6 months ago.
With their EP The Way We Talk hitting top 50 on Billboard Top
Independent Albums, it's plain to see why Matt decided they would
be a good investment for his genius on their first full length (street
date July 8th).
As with Matt's previous projects, The Maine follows in line with
the pop-punkness in which he seems to be so well-versed. It's the
type of album that leaves you feeling happy and humming a few bars
of the more prominent choruses. The happiness starts off right away
with the first song, "If I Only Had The Heart." Light and
airy guitar are coupled with a bit of xylophone, yes I said xylophone
- a style of music also seen in veteran band The Starting Line.
In fact if you've never heard The Maine before, you could almost swear
it was Kenny (lead vocals TSL) singing on the first song (and
not John). Perhaps that's one of the reasons I like this band
so much, with my long time admiration for The Starting Line. Their
title track "The Way We Talk" follows the first song nicely.
Not as peppy, yet still very up-beat. This time the electric guitar
has a bit more of a part and lowers the tone a tad. Although the timed
hand claps bring back that urge for a smile. "Give Me Anything"
has one of the most interesting intros I've heard in awhile - somehow
they mixed raw electronic guitar with a synthesizer. It's like the
song is trying to be techno and alternative [at the same time]. Not
sure if that same sentiment was carried through the whole song, but
still, I give them props for even trying. One thing that was carried
through was the "choir" singing. "Choir" singing
happens when all the members get together in the studio and take about
3 giant steps back from the microphone, creating more of an echo sound.
This kind of singing was heard in their title track as well. Apparently
it's something that they like and I think I do as well. The final
song "The Town's Been Talkin' " feels more like a love ballad
than something of the peppy persuasion. The drums are very simple,
but very distinctive and important to the song. John's octave was
taken down a little, giving us the ability to hear more of his emotion.
Also the synthesizer/xylophone were replaced with a good ole' fashion
piano. This sound rounds out the simplistic feel of the song.
The fact that this album was only their EP and not even the one produced
by Squire leaves me with high hopes for their full length. And it's
hard to believe that the average age of this band is not old enough
to drink, yet they've already toured with bands like Paramore and
Bayside. Obviously, they made the right decision between AP
Chemistry and Fearless Records... Who needs to learn about molecular
structure anyways?
-Rachel Fredrickson
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