ALBUM REVIEW: “Lovely Little Lonely” by The Maine

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It hasn’t been super long since we had a new record from Arizona sweethearts’ The Maine but this new record has been so highly anticipated since the band dropped the first two singles, “Bad Behavior” and “Black Butterflies & Deja Vu”. So of course when the album found it’s way into our inbox, I knew it was something I wanted to write about. We are very picky about album reviews here at NewEnglandSounds.com, I don’t just write them about everybody. I’m pretty sure this will be the third one we’ve written since the inception of the website even. The new record, “Lovely Little Lonely” drops tomorrow! As a band that I’ve covered and interviewed for years at my old website, I have had a unique view into their writing and recording process over all the albums so I was intrigued with this new release.

The album is like a nostalgic throw back to what they were doing with the debut full length, “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop” but with a Third Eye Blind & Goo Goo Dolls spin. While the alternative rock vibes were there with the last full length, “American Candy”, it’s on a whole different level with this new album and I’m not sure how i feel about it. It’s a serious flashback to nineties rock. Short but sweet for the most part, less then three and a half minute rock songs. “Lovely Little Lonely” opens up with the track “I Don’t Come Down”. It reads as a much more grown up take on the more pop rock driven tunes they’ve done. With lines like, ‘Her lips and bad behavior, I’m in danger,” it screams summer anthems.
With the third track on the record, “Lovely”, we see the first interlude on the album which is something we haven’t seen the band do before. Standouts for me on the album are tracks I was already familiar with in “Bad Behavior” and “Black Butterflies & Deja Vu”. The songs that originally got me stoked on there being a new Maine record and got me anticipating this album. Something I’ve always enjoyed about The Maine is that each album is a completely different vibe. They never repeat themselves completely, each album is completely separate from each other. Like to compare “Lovely Little Lonely” to “American Candy”, I’m sure from an outsiders’ perspective it wouldn’t seem even like the same band.
As I got a little further into the album, everything started to come together a little bit. The fifth track on the album, “Taxi”, really caught my attention with some gorgeous lyrics. A personal favorite is the line “two punch drunk souls swinging in the wind”. I’ve always counted on The Maine for great lyrics that that seem to come off so effortlessly. I would love to be a fly on the wall for a writing session with this band. There’s a reason the band this year is celebrating their ten year anniversary as a band and as the same exact lineup which is so rare these days. The unit is so tight and it’s clear they won’t be disappearing any time soon. “Taxi” is standing out as a favorite on the record.
While earlier, I commented that it seems like a nineties alt take on “Cant Stop, Won’t Stop”, “Lovely Little Lonely” definitely shows how far they’ve come musically in their career. In the album, there are some interlude tracks ranging from spoken word to instrumental. The band clearly took a lot of risks with this album but when has the band never been risk-takers? It’s just in their blood. This album style is something we haven’t seen from the Maine before. I think a track that screamed I’m different is the track “Lost In Nostalgia”. It’s a totally spacey vibe, something really different from the rest of the album.
This album is a little jumpy but the one factor that I think stays the same is the total nineties influence with no particular band leading the influence. There’s moments when I think Goo Goo Dolls then I go Third Eye Blind. All I know is that it’s something we haven’t seen from the band before. As the first independent release for the band, it makes sense that it feels like something completely different. “Lonely”, the second to last track on the record I think is going to come across really cool live. It will be interesting to see how this album plays out live on this run. Of course, the album after quite a bit of low energy songs ends on a high energy note with “How do You Feel?” A great track to end the album that leaves the listener wanting more.
Overall, I’m ready to see this album live and hope to see tons of Maine fans at their show in Boston at the end of the month. The band is doing a really cool thing with this record where they’re having album pop up shops tomorrow where you can pick up a limited edition of the record. In Boston it’s at the Sinclair starting at twelve noon tomorrow! Listen to it, tell me what you think about and continue to support this talented band!

About Author

Colleen

Colleen has been writing about music since 2009. Interviewing bands since the glory days of Warped and has continued to do so for now over fourteen years. As well as doing freelance for other publications, the love for everything rock continues today.