Christmas analogy time. You know when you look at a wrapped present and you think you know what it’s going to be, but you open it and it’s a hundred times better? It’s ace when that happens. But what about the times when you’re almost sure you’re going to get something really cool but then it turns out to be something utterly dull. Frustrating, isn’t it? Unfortunately, Maxeen‘s self-titled offering falls into the latter category.
The most annoying this about this entire album is that there is practically no pay-off for the dozens of times when Maxeen build themselves up for something big. The horrendously mundane opener ‘Please’ succeeds in returning to the same plodding motif whenever it threatens to really kick in and impress, thoroughly ruining all the tension and energy built up through the repetitive employment of the same riff. ‘Poison June‘ starts off positively with a quietly brooding intro that has more potential than anything else on ‘Maxeen’ but never quite emerges into the powerfully driven song it so easily could be. Perhaps due to an unwillingness on the part of the band to really let go or maybe because they’re aiming at the radio market, Maxeen don’t manage to shift up the gears at all, and part of the frustration is due to the fact that they demonstrate so much potential and positive direction.
Strangely enough, when Shannon McMurray’s guitar work nudges ‘Lead Not Follow’ into a ‘Jane Says’-era Jane’s Addiction vibe, or the slow burn of ‘White Flag’, the whole album seems to take on a different colouring. More indulgent, yes, but less forced – the sound of a band finding their own sound and being comfortable with the expansive melodies of the aforementioned tracks. Unfortunately, this almost trippy sound is in the minority in the twelve tracks, with the dully thudding ‘Take The Weight Off’ sounding like an amalgamation of all the bad parts of the rest of ‘Maxeen’ and ‘Gettaway’ once again demonstrating Maxeen‘s unwillingness to actually rock out when all sign posts within the song suggest that just after the next chorus they’ll do just that. But they never do.
You can listen to this entire album a few times in a row and not actually be able to select the memorable parts: that’s how frustrating it is. I know I’ve overused the ‘f’ word in this review but it sums up ‘Maxeen’, since underneath the recycled melodies and rare affecting bits there simmers a band waiting to kick out. Paradoxically it’s when they take a u-turn into the road marked ‘Big Sounding Tracks That Let Us Experiment’ they find success and sound as if they’re fully at ease with this style of music. Apart from those rare moments, there’s very little of note here.
Ben