Maritime
Glass Floor
Shock

After the split-up of The Promise Ring, singer and main songwriter Davey Von Bohlen and drummer Dan Didier got together with Eric Axelson (who has by now been replaced by Justin Klug), former bass player of The Dismemberment Plan and formed Maritime, a band that starts where The Promise Ring ended. Instead of the wild indie-rock of the early TPR days, their debut album 'Glass Floor' resembles TPR's much-debated finale 'Wood/Water' and it sounds like an expanded singer/songwriter record, but with a defined band feeling as its company.

The album is dominated by Von Bohlen's voice and his acoustic guitar, while an orchestral atmosphere is established by the rather rare though well placed insert of the organ, saxophone and various string instruments.

Adios is the perfect example for this; as one of the most energetic songs it is strongly marked by the use of the commanding arrangement of horn sounds.

Having said goodbye to all the emo-sadness in his former songwriting, Von Bohlen's lyrics on 'Glass Floor' are cheerful and carefree so that Maritime sometimes sound like a happy version of The Smiths and with their catchy melodies. They are as un-American as it is possible to be for a band whose roots can be found in Wisconsin and there are moments when they remind me of Badly Drawn Boy (Sleep Around), Belle And Sebastian (King Of Doves) or Eskobar.

All 13 of the songs on this record seem to start at the same emotional stage then drift into various directions, creating a sense of repetitiveness and I can imagine many people would say that there are times this record stands on the edge of boredom. However, as long as you're not looking for a constant wall of sound, but more for beautiful pop songs and some melancholy on a summer evening - to blow your mind, rather than to intellectually challenege you - this record should be just fine.

Gesa Pielok