Spring Break
Chum's dances (or tries to) as Maritime checks into port
Maritime, an indie supergroup of sorts, brought anthemic pop rock to Cholmondeley's Thursday night, courtesy of Punk, Rock n'?Roll Club
by Dan Forman
Arts | 12/4/07
Posted online at 10:59 PM EST on 12/3/07
/ Last updated at 12:52 AM EST on 12/3/07
The crowd at Cholmondeley's had trouble containing itself in the wake of the deep kick of Maritime's indie dance pop energy last Thursday night.
"I don't think we've ever been invited to a castle before, so that's pretty great," said lead singer Davey von Bohlen, barely able to contain his excitement in the midst of the performance's upbeat foray and enthusiastic crowd reaction.
Maritime, made up of former members of The Promise Ring and Dismemberment Plan, are stolid champions of the methodical, jabbing eighth-note strike style characteristic of such bands as The Strokes. In a concert setting, you can imagine that this would be highly effective in pepping up the crowd and instantly creating a fun attitude. This is the effect it had on the Chum's audience, as the café was alive with body gyration-some of it cannot actually be called dancing-and good times.
Emotional high points came with songs off the band's new album and the object of their current tour, Heresy and the Hotel, including "Tearing up the Oxygen" and "Love has Given Up." The former contains melodic, spacey, synthesized keyboard lines, which guitarist Dan Hinz nailed with the same level of timed precision as on the album.
Oddly enough, von Bohlen's vocals on Heresy and the Hotel sound more like Bono than on any other album. "With Holes for Thumb Sized Birds" incorporates that wailing high register upswing that the Irish altruist often dons even during verses. The band's Strokes guitar attack coupled with the U2-esque vocal power creates a weirdly unique combination that makes them difficult to ignore.
My only critique of von Bohlen relates to his choice of movement onstage, specifically during Maritime's explosive, all-encompassing, world-ending choruses. His back slightly bent, he hopped up and down arhythmically like a nine-year-old waiting in excited anticipation outside the gates of Disney Land. Other than that, it seemed that Maritime had all the right moves, taking their eclectic musical recipe to the zenith of its energetic potential.
Openers The One AM Radio put on a performance that was more like a daydream. Their music is as tranquil live as it is on their albums, as if the sound has permanently situated itself on a La-Z-Boy recliner. The guitar work coaxed the audience into zombie status, as it gave up dancing after the fourth song. It's the kind of music that tricks you into thinking that you're fully awake when you're only half-conscious, as your brain meanders in and out of the phases of pre-sleep oblivion-kind of like zoning out in front of the monotonous hum of the television set at 2 in the morning. Yes, this band can write a substantial and subtly complex song, but that song doesn't quite work in a concert venue.
"I don't think we've ever been invited to a castle before, so that's pretty great," said lead singer Davey von Bohlen, barely able to contain his excitement in the midst of the performance's upbeat foray and enthusiastic crowd reaction.
Maritime, made up of former members of The Promise Ring and Dismemberment Plan, are stolid champions of the methodical, jabbing eighth-note strike style characteristic of such bands as The Strokes. In a concert setting, you can imagine that this would be highly effective in pepping up the crowd and instantly creating a fun attitude. This is the effect it had on the Chum's audience, as the café was alive with body gyration-some of it cannot actually be called dancing-and good times.
Emotional high points came with songs off the band's new album and the object of their current tour, Heresy and the Hotel, including "Tearing up the Oxygen" and "Love has Given Up." The former contains melodic, spacey, synthesized keyboard lines, which guitarist Dan Hinz nailed with the same level of timed precision as on the album.
Oddly enough, von Bohlen's vocals on Heresy and the Hotel sound more like Bono than on any other album. "With Holes for Thumb Sized Birds" incorporates that wailing high register upswing that the Irish altruist often dons even during verses. The band's Strokes guitar attack coupled with the U2-esque vocal power creates a weirdly unique combination that makes them difficult to ignore.
My only critique of von Bohlen relates to his choice of movement onstage, specifically during Maritime's explosive, all-encompassing, world-ending choruses. His back slightly bent, he hopped up and down arhythmically like a nine-year-old waiting in excited anticipation outside the gates of Disney Land. Other than that, it seemed that Maritime had all the right moves, taking their eclectic musical recipe to the zenith of its energetic potential.
Openers The One AM Radio put on a performance that was more like a daydream. Their music is as tranquil live as it is on their albums, as if the sound has permanently situated itself on a La-Z-Boy recliner. The guitar work coaxed the audience into zombie status, as it gave up dancing after the fourth song. It's the kind of music that tricks you into thinking that you're fully awake when you're only half-conscious, as your brain meanders in and out of the phases of pre-sleep oblivion-kind of like zoning out in front of the monotonous hum of the television set at 2 in the morning. Yes, this band can write a substantial and subtly complex song, but that song doesn't quite work in a concert venue.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Laura Wolf
posted 12/05/07 @ 8:05 PM EST
Just want to clear up a couple of points:
1) 'Tearing Up the Oxygen' is off Maritime's second album- "We, the Vehicles"- not their new, 3rd album. On top of that, the band played many many more tracks from their previous albums (the majority from their 2nd) than from the new one. (Continued…)
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