The Maine – Can’t Stop Won’t Stop
For only being together two years, The Maine has done something that many would have thought impossible or improbable in such a short amount of time. Members John O’Callaghan, Kennedy Brock, Jared Monaco, Patrick Kirch and Garrett Nickelsen started making music together right after high school. Using Myspace, the pop-punk group from Tempe, Arizona released their first self-produced EP entitled Stay Up, Get Down in May of 2007, streaming it to millions of users on the web. The release helped secure them a large fan base that was yearning to hear more from the five. Thus, The Maine teamed up with the folks from Fearless Records to produce another, more professional EP titled The Way We Talk in December of the same year.
Since then The Maine has moved on from internet streaming and has secured their spot in the mainstream music scene. They’ve toured with bands such as We The Kings, All Time Low, Mayday Parade and Good Charlotte while also making an appearance on Vans Warped Tour 2008. On top of all the touring they released their first proper full-length studio album, Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop, in the summer of 2008. After listening to the album multiple times, once in curiosity and the rest for my own pleasure, I would say that the album is a reflection of what listeners have heard from them before and also a good taste of what they can expect in the future.
The catchy rhythms and clever lyrics on the album fuses their old and new sound together as one. The first singles, Everything I Ask For and Into Your Arms, are wonderful teasers that sample the more refined sound the band is trying to achieve. The rest of the songs are also very upbeat and infectious; I often sing random lyrical excerpts from their music to myself in everyday situations.
The harmony between the drums and guitars creates a perfect melodic backdrop for the vocals. Lead singer John O’Callaghan’s vocals are perfect for many of the upbeat songs on the album but also work well with slower songs such as Whoever She Is. His unique voice sets the band apart and makes listening to The Maine a different experience from listening to any other generic pop-punk band. Other notable songs on the album are Girls Do What The Want, Kiss and Sell, and We All Roll Along. I believe that The Main is not done climbing the ladder of success. Their hard work and love for music will keep them motivated in producing many more successful tracks and albums. They already spent the whole summer of this year co-headling on Vans Warped Tour and are getting ready to set out as an opening act for Boys Like Girls’ Love Drunk tour starting in Buffalo, New York on October 14th.
Written By:
Becca White
I agree! They are awesome and great review
Amazing review Becca! You know your facts and your review was quite organized and well-written. Five starss! (:
Becca this is wonderfully refreshing in the world of reviews. You’re definitely gonna get somewhere. (I’d put a smile but I don’t find them professional looking.)
Great review, Becca.
It was well-written, organized, and included correct and important points.
This review is definitely one of the best I’ve read, yet.
I agree…I absolutely love them! This was an awesome review. It described their style very well. Good job Becca! You are not done climbing your ladder of success either. (:
That was a wonderful review, it explained all the main reasons I’m in love with them. They know how to keep their fans moving and jumping to the beat, and slowing them down to normal pace. Great review Becca.
Becca, you did an amazing job on this, seriously. I felt like I was reading a legit review from a magazine. If I didn’t already love The Maine, this article would’ve made me fall in love with them!
Hey, I decided to give this band a chance because of this review and now I love them. Thank you!
Good review. You made some pretty good points and did a good job convincing people to listen. This album is a guilty pleasure of mine. Although, there is about half the album that wasn’t mentioned. I think a good idea in the future would be to include a “Rocks If You Like” (RIYL) section at the end. Just throw some albums out that you think people who like those albums would then want to check out the album your reviewing. Just a suggestion down the road. Also, this might just be me but talking about the producer of the album like Matt Squire in this case could make someone want to check it out because they may have liked Panic!’s first record or All Time Low’s So Wrong it’s Right. Keep up the good work! I like seeing the alternative/pop/pop punk music on here!
I didn’t mention about half of the album because I wanted to spotlight some of the songs that stick out more. I didn’t want to make it lengthy to the point where people would stop reading. Should I? And thank you again!
I totally agree that finding that balance between too lengthy and not enough can be difficult. Sometimes there is no way around it and you have to be lengthy. For example, like a Brand New record I think you have to dive in and talk about a lot of things, especially on an album like Deja Entendu. I guess one thing in this particular review I would have done is shorten the intro and add one or two more songs along with mentioning the producer. I agree you don’t always have to sit there and write about every freaking song all of the time though unless it’s like an ep or something. I see your points though. Good review!
This is a really good Review!
I like it!