One of the main reasons the American so-called ‘college rock’ scene has been steadily disappearing up its own fundament for the last few years is the lack of genuine excitement and emotion in the music. Everything has been watered down to such a degree, the rock these bands peddle is about as hard as a bag of jelly babies and a lot of acts’ main ambition in life seems to be having their music featured on the soundtrack to some TV show that’s aimed at millions of mini-Hannah Montanas in the making. The Maine are one such band and their second album Black & White is a nightmarish mix of Shania Twain, the Goo Goo Dolls and Tom Petty (sorry Tom, not your fault).
Despite their claims of trying to capture a “rawer feel,” this time around, the songs on the ten track release are about as rough and ready as The Jonas Brothers and their decision to hire people like Butch Walker and Mark Weinburg to add some extra sheen to the songwriting hasn’t delivered the longed for cred. Saccharine ballad ‘Growing Up’ is, well, saccharine; ‘Fuel To The Fire’ buries a good hook under a metric ton of mediocrity and ‘Saving Grace’ is indeed lacking in precisely that quality. If you want to experience some decent college rock, buy a Gaslight Anthem record instead.