indie / noise rock / shoegaze
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I don't know what 'maff' means in their mother tongue, but in these regions 'maf' (with one 'f') means something like 'crazy'. And indeed, we're going on a crazy ride through indie rock, noise rock, shoegaze and grunge, driven by heaps of pedals, guitars, some electronics and sheer melancholy. Yes, I'm still holding on to the sound of an early afternoon on an alternative summer festival because I absolutely love this feeling.
Maff hails from Chile and started in 2012. Their goal was to create edgy rock music, influenced by the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Slowdive, The National, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Pixies and so on. To me, that is always an interesting combination, if the vocals are ok. Vocals can be a pain in the ass sometimes and for me they often make or break an album. So that means that opener 'Act 1' is a great tune. It's a lively instrumental that serves as an intro and it makes me want to dance a little bit. Don't worry, I won't.
'Linger Around' then starts rocking in similar fashion and the vocals appear. This is always an exciting moment because often it's where I choose between pressing 'stop' and writing the review. Well, I'm writing the review so the vocals are perfectly fine. 'Linger Around' is actually one of my favorite tracks, driving on a firm bass line and a solid tempo. This is a highly enjoyable noise rock song, often bringing in more noise than the rock can handle, but that's ok.
It's a lot of fun to listen to this music. At certain points I'm actually thinking about Joy Division, mainly because of the bass and the vocals. It's also these elements which turn 'Million Year Picnic' into a great dark rock song, perked up by the sixties feel of the drums. These drums also add a grunge feel to songs like 'You' and 'Blue Seas'.
'Planet Wave' comes up with a punk tempo and a post-punk attitude. It's probably the heaviest song on this e.p., capable of setting venues on fire everywhere. I'm not so sure about the post-hardcore vocals on this one but hey, let'(s not complain and just have a little fun, shall we? Although we might also listen to the amazing shoegazer 'Someday', another one of my favorites here. Or if we want slow, noisy shoegaze, 'Walking On Fire' is a very, very strong candidate.
So in all, this is a very decent e.p. with some fantastic songs which will find the way to my media player quite often from now on. I'll probably place this directly between albums by some of the bands I mentioned earlier, as well as Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine. Highly recommended e.p...
Serge
Maff hails from Chile and started in 2012. Their goal was to create edgy rock music, influenced by the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Slowdive, The National, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Pixies and so on. To me, that is always an interesting combination, if the vocals are ok. Vocals can be a pain in the ass sometimes and for me they often make or break an album. So that means that opener 'Act 1' is a great tune. It's a lively instrumental that serves as an intro and it makes me want to dance a little bit. Don't worry, I won't.
'Linger Around' then starts rocking in similar fashion and the vocals appear. This is always an exciting moment because often it's where I choose between pressing 'stop' and writing the review. Well, I'm writing the review so the vocals are perfectly fine. 'Linger Around' is actually one of my favorite tracks, driving on a firm bass line and a solid tempo. This is a highly enjoyable noise rock song, often bringing in more noise than the rock can handle, but that's ok.
It's a lot of fun to listen to this music. At certain points I'm actually thinking about Joy Division, mainly because of the bass and the vocals. It's also these elements which turn 'Million Year Picnic' into a great dark rock song, perked up by the sixties feel of the drums. These drums also add a grunge feel to songs like 'You' and 'Blue Seas'.
'Planet Wave' comes up with a punk tempo and a post-punk attitude. It's probably the heaviest song on this e.p., capable of setting venues on fire everywhere. I'm not so sure about the post-hardcore vocals on this one but hey, let'(s not complain and just have a little fun, shall we? Although we might also listen to the amazing shoegazer 'Someday', another one of my favorites here. Or if we want slow, noisy shoegaze, 'Walking On Fire' is a very, very strong candidate.
So in all, this is a very decent e.p. with some fantastic songs which will find the way to my media player quite often from now on. I'll probably place this directly between albums by some of the bands I mentioned earlier, as well as Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine. Highly recommended e.p...
Serge