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| Human Hearts |
If you’ve never read an article about Milwaukee band Maritime, this is usually the part reserved for mentioning that two of the outfit’s members were in The Promise Ring, the mid-’90s crusaders of emo’s second wave. But after eight years, five releases and an immeasurable amount of growth (both sonically and personally), The Promise Ring association now exists only as a husk, a vacated cocoon that once encased the evolved organism that is Maritime. Purists may scoff at such an assertion, but Human Hearts, the latest release from the band — which has now been active for a year longer than The Promise Ring, mind you — only serves to highlight and celebrate the ever-widening gap between the two projects.
Thanks to an exclusive stream of Human Hearts at The A.V. Club, Music Notes was able to give an early listen to Maritime’s latest before its proper April 5 release.
“It’s casual,” starts singer Davey von Bohlen in the building opening track by the same name. And as the quick-hitting song wastes little time to meld into “Paraphernalia”— the song with the most semblance of a single — you believe in the casual claims from these musicians shouldered with the underlying task of escaping their celebrated origin. The record’s first three songs (and most thereafter) are energetic, but the impassioned vocals and flurry of guitars don’t seem at all forced… which can’t always be said for selections from Maritime’s earlier catalog.
Then comes along “Faint of Hearts,” the album’s longest song at a smidge more than five minutes. Here, the cadence of bass and drum slows to a crawl, the otherwise masterful ax-wielding of ex Benjamins guitarist Dan Hinz is dumbed down, and von Bohlen’s pond of clever lyrical quips temporally dries up – all for the sake of what sounds to be a one of the band’s most sincere and evocative songs to date. The somberly sang, “All I ever wanted was here in my arms, in my arms, in my arms,” fits perfectly against a backdrop of instrumentation that’s just as straightforward and barren. As my once-over of the primarily upbeat album turned into five listens, then 10 listens, this song I originally thought to be filler became a welcomed break in pattern.
Of course, subsequent offerings such as “Annihilation Eyes,” “C’mon Sense” and “Apple Of My Irony”— collectively complete with mentions of cowboys and Indians, family pictures, smile lines and growing out of shoes — immediately set Human Hearts aflame again. It’s here at the tail end that the effects generously slathered to von Bohlen’s vocals throughout begin to take their toll, which is perhaps the only real complaint that can be registered against this otherwise sturdy and well-crafted effort.
Maybe it’s just April talking, but I can’t help but feel like Human Hearts reeks the flowery aroma of spring, while exuding an undeniable warmth and level of comfort only previously hinted at in songs from other albums (that barrage my Pandora stations for some reason). What seems to be Maritime’s most effortless and, dare I say “casual” release is also far and away its best… and hopefully one worth putting the few remaining comparisons to The Promise Ring to bed at long last.
Maritime plays at Turner Hall April 9 with the support of fellow Milwaukee bands Sat. Nite Duets and Testa Rosa.
