Mae - The Everglow

Mae
The Everglow
Tooth & Nail Records
Grade: A-

If nothing else, The Everglow is epic. Fifteen tracks pushing over an hour of action and you are at the very least getting your money’s worth. While there is some quantity over quality, most of the songs on The Everglow are solid, strong and at times magical. As their sophomore record, the five-piece Mae admit that they are a considerable more cohesive unit after supporting their 2003 debut Destination: Beautiful. While most bands can say that, the hint is that before it was more or less a hodge-podge. Behind the exceptionally clean playing of guitarist Zach Gehring, bassist Matt Padgett, drummer Jacob Marshall and keyboardist Rob Sweitzer, guitarist and lead singer Dave Elkins’ brilliant voice powers Mae to new destinations and levels. While not uniquely pitched, Elkins has the smoothness, softness and vigor to move from light piano ballads (e.g., “We’re So Far Away”) to more pop rock numbers (“Suspension”) without overdoing the transition. Besides from the strength and length of the actual music, Mae sets up The Everglow to unfold like story with a “Prologue” and “Epilogue” for the record and an illustrated children’s book-style song booklet. The one real knock against The Everglow is that many of the songs sound alike and it is often difficult to separate what is what. Still, the majority of the songs fall into two parallel streams: mild-tempo, mellowed pop and marginally more melodic punk. For many people, they will not be able to separate out much of a difference. Also, there seems to be so much material here that fans of the band can take their time ironing out movements and musical applications. The faster, uptempo numbers, that often have much in common with the All-American Rejects, include the first single “Suspension,” “Someone Else’s Arms,” “Cover Me,” “Anything” and “Ready and Waiting to Fall.” The more mellow pop songs include “The Ocean,” “Breakdown” and “Mistakes We Knew We Were Making.” Two songs that stand apart include the gorgeous piano ballad opener “We’re So Far Away” and the seven-minute closer “The Sun and the Moon.” Past tours have found Mae playing more with punk-orientated bands like Simple Plan and Something Corporate, but it is clear that this isn’t precisely their audience. Though most wouldn’t describe Mae as indie rock, one could imagine a better appreciation playing with a band like Rilo Kiley. Regardless, The Everglow should place Mae in the position to headline their own deal and pick the bands that they want.