Review → Mixtapes – Maps (2010)
Mixtapes - Maps
Mixtapes are a band out of Ohio, who will be sharing their debut album, Maps, with the world via Death to False Hope Records. DTFH, if you don’t know, is a donation-based label that, like Jeff Rosenstock’s Quote-Unquote Records, posts all of its releases online for your free downloading pleasure. They tend to put out awesome material, and Mixtapes are another strong band that backs up that reputation for quality.
The band features a great male/female vocal duo that reminds the listener of bands like Lemuria or Fifth Hour Hero. The music goes from driving punk rock to slower acoustic jams. The album’s highlight comes early on, with the wonderfully titled “Nothing Can Kill the Grimace.” Guitarist/vocalist Maura takes the lion’s share of the vocals, but the lines from Ryan help give the song a bit more texture, as does the slowed down bridge.
Also, at just over two minutes, “Grimace” might be the longest song on the record [nope, that's "Sunsets" -ed]; the band blows through its ten song set in just over 18 minutes. Even the slow jams are over before you know it; some of these songs could benefit from some extensions. As to the slow jams, some of these walk the line between almost sounding like a different band entirely- I’d say these, such as “And If We Both Fail?,” remind me of Bishop Allen or Ben Folds- and fitting in with the record.
This will be a fittingly quick review. Maps is a fantastic debut from a young band who will hopefully continue to grow and release more material. I cannot urge you enough to check out this release. Punks who have opened their hearts to the sweet sounds of Discount and Lemuria will find a lot to love here, and likewise the indie kids who still fondly reminisce about Rainer Maria could possibly find themselves drawn into Mixtapes’ sound.
To get the record, check out the band’s myspace.
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February 12th, 2010 at 10:41 am
Ok, I just googled to find a review of this album and the only one I found said that these are lyrics from one of their songs:
“I’m so tired of everyone I know and cigarette smoke and attempts at parties / they’re all drunk and stoned while I just sit at home and write words to songs so I don’t feel alone / and I’m not sayin’ that I’m any better, but at least I do all that dumb shit at home / ’cause everyone’s the same and everyone is lame and they can sing bad songs and dance ironically.””
Eek, I hope the instrumentals and vocal delivery are good enough to make up for such tripe. Often they can be (I listen to many artists with similarly cringe-worthy lyrics, as you know) but that verse right there is sort of unexcusable in it’s cliched, said better elsewhere obviousness.
February 27th, 2010 at 1:42 pm
Checked out their myspace and their individual pages as well. They aren’t really a young band the guys are like late 20′s and the girl is still in high school. Disturbing.