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It was just a few months ago that I reviewed the EP of a new band
called The Maine. Much anticipation had been growing for their
first full length to be released. And now the day has finally come
and Can't Stop Won't Stop has officially hit stores.
I didn't think that I could be more impressed with The Maine than
I had already been with the EP. However, I was wrong, because this
full length has exceeded my expectations and then some. From the first
song "Everything I Ask For" you are automatically drawn
in to these five young guys. The lyrics are absolutely addictive:
"Oh she makes me feel like shit/But I can't get over it."
The dynamics of this song make it feel like so much more than just
pop-punk. Sure the general tone of the album is probably aimed more
towards an audience that can't legally drink, but you'll be hard pressed
to not get these choruses stuck in your head. Like with the song "Girls
Do What They Want." This song tells a story of an 18 year old
girl and her adventures through life. It could be construed that this
is an empowerment song for females, which would not be the typical
thing to come from a band consisting of 100% males, but if you're
hearing the lyrics "Girls do what they want/Boys do what they
can" I think you'd be more likely to find that it was a female
belting them out. If you move down to "Whoever She Is" you'll
find that it's a diamond in the rough for the rest of the album. Why
do I say that? Well, it's the song on the album that sticks out the
most for not following suit of the others. With this one they took
it into the acoustic form. It's got a bit of guitar and a large helping
of vocals, it's simplistic in tone and lyrics, but makes for quite
a beautiful song. To mix it up a bit, The Maine tries their hand at
a bit of techno-technique. Say that five times fast. In the song "You
Left Me" the tempo has increased to the point that it's almost
too fast to tap your feet to. They've also added an element that could
be a synthesizer, but also could be a cleverly used rhythm guitar.
Either way this is the song you'd most want to hear in a dance club.
Finally, they end the album with the longest song on the album, "We'll
All Be…" Coming in at 5:30, this song reminds me of "Closing
Time" by the ever popular Semisonic. In this one, that
pop-ness went away again, and instead was replaced by a deeper guitar
and a lower tone to the vocals. "It's our last time, to say goodnight/Don't
say goodbye" are lyrics that make you think "did they write
this song intended for the end of the album?" No matter why they
wrote it, it makes for a nice clean finish to a 12 song LP (full length).
If I had to grade this album, it would definitely deserve an A+.
Between the dynamics, the variety, the infectious lyrics, the memorable
melodies and the Matt Squire genius, you just can't go wrong.
The fact that they're on tour with All Time Low just makes
for icing on the pop punk cake.
-Rachel Fredrickson
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