Maple Hill – Headspace If you’re a band writing a Pop-Punk album in 2016, you may not have the hardest time crafting the songs, due to their typically simple structures. What you will have, however, is a battle to create music that is in some way distinctive from the hundreds of ever-so-slightly-different whiny bands that pump out paint-bynumbers standard garbage. Upon a first listen to the voice of Kristian WoodGaiger, you could be fooled into thinking that Maple Hill’s first full-length album ‘Headspace’ is set to fall into the trap that seems to encompass most aspiring Pop-Punk outfits. He has clean, higher pitch vocals that are glossed over with an extremely slick production. If that production were stripped back just a couple of layers, it may actually add further texture to the record and provide more substance to the lyrics, giving some raw emotion. Moving through the first three songs, though, and we are treated gradually more and more, as the songs improve with each passing minute. The album potentially reaches its climax, or at least one of its most climactic points during ‘Jack Blinked’. It offers a gentle set of chords to open things up, before launching into angsty, punchy vocals and a catchy as hell hook. The bassline that follows the chorus is filthily good and that chorus returns several times to smack you in the face with considerable impact. It’s a gem. Maple Hill are currently amidst a campaign to perform at the Syracuse, NY leg of the Vans Warped Tour 2016, and this song just screams to be heard ringing out in a car park full of hundreds of bouncing kids; so, here’s to hoping.
‘Headspace’ is largely a mixed bag, with diversity in its standard of musicianship and displays of both songwriting maturity and Pop-Punk boyishness. We have a smattering of somewhat cliché, but brilliant all the same gang vocal choruses; some deeper lyrical themes and well constructed lines; winding guitar solos and some outstanding harmonies. There are, however, some tracks that lower the tone. The opening lyrical content of ‘Sometimes I Doubt Your Commitment To Sparkle Motion’ leaves much to be desired – whilst honest writing is often the most effective and gripping, it most certainly is not when the song merely speaks of accidentally pushing the singer’s girlfriend off of a “futon” and how funny the day was. For me, this song is filler, and ‘Argyle’ is little better – they certainly detract from the standard of material Maple Hill show they’re capable of on other tracks. That said, ‘From Cradle To Grave’ has much more substance, evident in lines like “we’re all lost because what we have isn’t what we crave, it’s in our nature from cradle to grave”. Those are the sort of lyrics that find their way to being inked into skin and printed on t-shirts that are sold to the masses. Similarly, ‘Streetlights’ is a mini PopPunk ballad, if that can even be considered to be a thing? The acapella harmonies that draw the song to a close are illustrative of the identity and individuality that Maple Hill have already set out to pioneer, even on their debut album. This is certainly a record to be proud of, especially when considering the difficulties in carving a fresh path in the over-saturated Pop-Punk universe. They’re by no means there yet, but this is Maple Hill’s first step towards Pop-Punk stardom. ND