Maplewood - Maplewood

Genre rock Publisher Tee Pee Records External Links Maplewood Tee Pee Records

Why would anyone want to lie in an empty room, sweating and eating oranges and various other fruits from the citrus family? It just doesn’t make sense. I guess I could hack it, if there was a great record on the stereo. With this album, Maplewood tries to write a record for this rightly-obscure niche market.

The songs pass by swiftly, but without leaving much of an impression aside from the lingering feeling that you should be listening to the Go-Betweens instead. The songs themselves are not bad at all. They have some nice interesting ideas, but are too insistent on sticking to the path of the well-trodden. Relief comes from various breaks where an organ or accordion part takes the spotlight. Sadly, for the most part, the instrumentation is sorely predictable and just adds to the feeling of transience and disposability this record exudes.

All the tracks are fairly equal in quality and are all varied in approach and song writing. This could be a positive thing. But, in part, the inability to stand still and focus on one kind of song for any length of time contributes to the shallowness. I can’t help but feel if these guys focused on the Gram Parsons-meets-Go-Betweens kind of vibe they exude at time, that it would be much easier to listen to them with more regularity. I would also recommend that they stop listening to the Eagles, because the Eagles are shit and their sand-blasted harmonies are appallingly unimaginative.

The songs on Maplewood's debut are all nice. You can stick this album on and let it float on all the way through without too much trouble or thought. It's bearably pleasant, but totally unrewarding.