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Review: 'Maple Mars'
'Someone's got To Listen'   

-  Label: 'Big Stir Records/ Bandcamp'
-  Genre: 'Rock' -  Release Date: '22.7.22.'

Our Rating:
Someone's Got to Listen is the first album by Maple Mars for far too long, for fans of this band from Los Angeles, fronted by Rick Hromadka who shares guitar duties with Steve Berns alongside Joe Giddings and Ron Pak.

The album opens with Useless Information an almost familiar sounding power pop song about being overloaded with the sort of Useless Information that drives your friends nuts, as you recite adverts and other nonsense, idle chit chat instead of doing something cool and interesting, like making tunes that remind me of Velvet Crush.

The first single from the album Gliding is next and this is catchy with lots of detail in the production as the song seems to want to soar even in the quieter interludes before the guitars really fly, this would sound good back-to-back with Glide by The Dream Syndicate as they Glide wondrously across your speakers.

Goodbye California was the second single from the album and has a typical tale of the star struck youngster arriving awestruck in Los Angeles before getting to find out the reality, with a glossy sheen and a sound that recalls Hillman Lighthouse, the Byrds reference in that band name also applies here in some ways, as they lyrically re-work Chris Cacavas' California Into The Ocean or at least explore similar themes. This would also work on the soundtrack to the new TV series La Brea's take on the sinking of California.

Anchors Aweigh really ought to be Pirate Metal rather than urgent Power Pop, this has stop start guitars and a rather full kit 15 second drum solo, as I try to figure out which song on Nights Are So Lonely by Michael Monroe this tune reminds me of.

Someone Take The Wheel feels like a sun dappled drive along the coast as you come up on some good weed, I've been trying very hard not to make any references to that overplayed band from Liverpool, but this is so in debt in a great way to Revolver, I have to give in and say yes this is Beatlesque but with enough other elements to not be cringe inducing.

Teenage Dream as a song title for me these days is problematic being sung by anyone over 30, no matter how innocent the song maybe, as they sing of chasing Teenage Dreams and being an accepted part of the scene, as the sound of clinking glasses and a shaker emphasize, what you might want to do to stay all night, this is still a great slice of Power pop, that might just make you think twice about what you would do to realize those dreams.

Sleepwalking has the feel on XTC in the widescreen approach both musically and lyrically and the way the backing vocals work tonally before the breakdown, that has a very 10CC feel to it, in the way it sort of feels like you've transitioned into another place before going back to the main tune.

Silver Craft is setting the controls towards space on that Rocketship that has a rather plaintive acoustic breakdown before everything builds with stuttering percussion as you fly across space.

Crooked Smile isn't the Dan Baird classic, instead this is a slow quietly psychedelic song with sweeping strings and a laid back chilled out air.

The album closes with Redemption that reminds me of Last Great Dreamers in places and is a must to hear for the Guitar freak out in the middle that's just a what! what! what! rewind the selector moment, before the gentle Psychedelic comedown ending.

Find out more at https://www.bigstirrecords.com/maple-mars https://bigstirrecords.bandcamp.com/album/someones-got-to-listen https://www.facebook.com/maplemars




  author: simonovitch

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