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a r t i s t :: Maritime
t i t l e :: Magnetic Bodies/Maps Of Bones
d a t e :: 2015-00-00
l a b e l :: Grand Hotel Can Cleef
g e n r e :: Indie
s o u r c e :: CD
b i t r a t e :: 922 kbps avg
e n c o d e r :: FLAC 1.2.1 -8 -V
t r a c k s :: 10
p l a y t i m e :: 37:47
s i z e :: 249.4MB
tracklist
1 Nothing Is Forgot 3:25
2 Satellite Love 3:28
3 Roaming Empire 3:54
4 Light You Up 4:34
5 War Tattoos 4:52
6 Drinking Peru 2:45
7 Collar Bones 3:15
8 Inside Out 3:23
9 Love You In The Dark 3:34
10 When The Bone Moon Dies 4:37
releasenotes
After MaritimeÆs opening set for American Football at Lincoln Hall earlier
this year, Mike Kinsella remarked how the bandÆs music sounds like Taylor
SwiftÆs. The crowd laughed. ôIÆm serious,ö he told them, making it clear that
he meant it as a compliment.
Kinsella was right. While Davey von BohlenÆs endearing, lisped warble is a far
cry from SwiftyÆs more straightforward, radio-friendly vocals, both artists
share a sharpened pop sensibility, despite coming from (and catering to) very
different worlds. ThereÆs a reason why von BohlenÆs legacy act The Promise
Ring covered AdeleÆs ôRumour Has Itö on A.V. Undercover (where Kinsella shared
drum duties with Dan Didier, itÆs worth noting). ItÆs the same reason he
drives the ôsing me something that I knowö montage on Jimmy Eat WorldÆs ôA
Praise Chorusö, rattling off lines heard in everything from MadnessÆ ôOur
Houseö to M÷tley CrⁿeÆs ôKickstart My Heartö. Above all else, the man values a
good hook.
HeÆs adept at finding them, too, as evidenced by MaritimeÆs first four
records, particularly their second and third efforts, We, the Vehicles and
Heresy and the Hotel Choir. But like Swift, von BohlenÆs quest for catchiness
has sometimes led to filler ù and when pop doesnÆt pop, it comes up empty. In
that vein, Magnetic Bodies/Maps of Bones falls into the same category as
MaritimeÆs 2004 debut, Glass Floor, and their last record, Human Hearts: ItÆs
an LP of several great songs surrounded by several just okay ones.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the strongest tunes are the ones that break away from
von BohlenÆs time-tested grab-and-jangle formula. Sure, thereÆs an undeniable
wiriness to Dan HinzÆs guitar on lead single ôLight You Upö, but Magnetic
BodiesÆ other best tracks tend to stand out by slowing down. Thanks to its
moderate beat, opener ôNothing is Forgotö has plenty of space for exploration,
revealing a stomp that becomes all the more powerful as the band starts and
stops in unison between each verse and chorus. ItÆs a subtle trick, but when
each musician locks into the double quarter notes of DidierÆs snare, the song
takes on a new kind of power. The tightly coiled rhythm also puts some of von
BohlenÆs best one-liners at front and center: ôWhat wakes you up in the
night?/ Metaphor scenes or actual things?ö would make a great opening line for
a novel. Or a really good pop song.
Much later, ôLove You In the Darkö grants the listener a similar amount of
breathing room. The acoustic guitar stays solid and steady, so that the lead
can dance around it with angular beauty ù no small feat for a mid-tempo song
that would otherwise be fairly cut and dry. That beauty becomes all the more
stirring when von Bohlen pledges to love whoever heÆs talking to under any
circumstance, especially one that involves the walls of age closing in as we
all get older.
ThatÆs Magnetic Bodiesæ other great strength: a sense of waning mortality. Von
Bohlen has been building on this theme since 2001, when a benign but still
very scary tumor was removed from his brain. It was then that his lyrics
suddenly went from emotional to corporeal, his preoccupations with insecurity
and romance suddenly viewed through a more anatomical microscope. Just look at
some of MaritimeÆs album titles: We, the Vehicles, Human Hearts, and now,
Magnetic Bodies/Maps of Bones. Each record (not to mention the songs contained
within) builds upon the idea of our feelings being intangible and perhaps
eternal, even though theyÆre imprisoned inside the disposable shell of organs,
muscles, and a skeleton. Humans are meat. Humans are matter. But in von
BohlenÆs words, that doesnÆt mean that whatÆs inside him and the rest of us
wonÆt be able to one day transcend the physical realm.
So when the guitars and synths of ôWar Tattoosö, ôCollar Bonesö, and ôInside
Outö wander aimlessly in search of their gimmick, I at least appreciate the
frailty and triumph implied by their lyrics. Celebrating the cosmic nature of
emotions while still recognizing the physical vulnerability of human beings
takes empathy ù something thatÆs not always easy to come by in indie rock
these days. And if MaritimeÆs ever able to put out a record where every song
balances soul, science, and ù most importantly ù a killer hook, theyÆll have
obtained the holy grail of modern music: the perfect pop album.
maritimesongs.com
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