On the cusp of their 10-year bandiversary, the Arizonian quintet The Maine — comprising Kennedy Brock, John O'Callaghan, Jared Monaco, Garrett Nickelsen and Pat Kirch — have developed a superior sound on their 6th studio collection, "Lovely, Little, Lonely," a record vibrating with notes of solidarity and nostalgic tunes. More than 12, fretful tracks, The Maine's first and only independent wander substantiates that there is, truth be told, escape in casting off old systems for the startling obscure that is exploratory domain. There is security — opportunity, even — in investigating those unfamiliar directions, an insurance impact that turns into the leitmotif of their most up to date record.
While getting their start in 2007 on Myspace, The American Alternative Rock band from Arizona is not unfamiliar with the fame that is following their latest album release. After being signed to Fearless Records in December of 2007, the group debuted with an EP titled, The Way We Talk. It wasn’t soon after that in 2008, the band then released their first full-length album titled, "Can't Stop Won’t Stop" and began touring with We The Kings, Boys Like Girls, The Cab, VersaEmerge, There For Tomorrow and many others. That following Summer in 2009, The Maine really got a taste of stardom when they performed for the first time on the Vans Warped Tour. By touring with these bands and even performing on Warped Tour, The Maine was already labeled as being alternative or even pop-punk. However, they just went with the flow and started churning out music quickly.
Since then, the band has released five more albums. In 2010, they released their second full-length album, "Black & White." After listening to their first album and then listening to their second, you can tell that The Maine’s music matured. They do have a song on the album titled, “Growing Up,” so isn’t that enough? While the album had a huge following, some fans stated how mildly uncomfortable it was to listen to because they were coming out of their tween years and their favorite band’s lyrics were now about “getting off and coming over.” However, some didn’t see the issue in this, the band was maturing, so shouldn’t their lyrics mature as well?
In 2011, they released their third studio album, "Pioneer," which they re-released in 2012 under the title "Pioneer and The Good Love." The re-release contained 6 previously unreleased tracks. Many would state that after the previous album fell a little short, that "Pioneer" would be the one to save the band. With an album full of songs that have some big hooks, gigantic and catchy choruses, and even some distorted guitars, it goes to show that The Maine was still maturing and it was a good thing.
In 2013, the band then announced their fourth studio album, "Forever Halloween." While there isn’t much to say about this album, it received mostly good reviews, especially for a band that was running nearly independent at the moment. However, most could say that this was the album that was a nice balance between melancholy and wistfulness nostalgia.
Two years later, after working endlessly on the album, in 2015, the band released their fifth studio album titled "American Candy." Besides their new release, this album was by far the best one The Maine produced and that could possibly be because it had enough of the classic pop-rock sound that they did so well in the past, but also began inserting some alternative rock sound in there.
This leads us back to today. With "Lovely, Little, Lonely," The Maine has proved that they have an eclectic sound. They have also proved that they have matured and possibly have really reached their peak when it comes to finding what style works for them. However, one thing can be said about the band and that is that they are forever changing and forever ‘growing up.’ For fans, this is a good sign because as they age and mature and learn the weights of the world, they can be assured that their favorite band will mature along with them. The Maine is a band that has dominated every genre they have been a part of. They have shown their fans how much they truly care for them. Every single member goes out of their way to make sure that every fan enjoys their time at a concert or even makes sure fans feel welcomed when meeting them. If you haven’t listened to The Maine or even know who they are, drop what you are doing immediately and immerse yourself in what we call beauty and pure talent.
