Review of The Maple State's CD "The Joanna EP"

The Maple State: The Joanna EP

In complete contrast to their press release, The Maple State do not specialise in "pulsing keyboard riffs", "sharp guitars" or "super tight rhythms". They are an indie band in the sense that Keane are an indie band, and although they aren't anywhere near as spineless as their stadium shagging counterparts, there is nothing new about their sound. Opening track "Joanna" slides along at a decent pace, but one begins to wonder how they managed to captivate fans of buzz saw pop punkers Motion City Soundtrack with songs like this, a sample lyric being "this is a fight song without the violence".

On the flip side, "Wood and Rain", with its "hold your attention" refrain in the opening verse does exactly that, not with blazing solos or lightning fast riffs, just decent indie-lite songwriting. They certainly aren't breaking any rules or setting a new trend, but they managed to hold my attention for at least half of the seven minutes I was listening.

• www.themaplestate.co.uk

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