Artist: Maritime
Album: Glass Floor
Label: DeSoto
Tracks: 13
Length: 45:06
Review by: Mike “Futureman” Leech

Pink chimneys in Maine couldn’t keep Davey von Bohlen away from trying to craft the perfect pop song, and it seems that Maritime is his newest means to that end. That’s right... Everybody’s favorite speech impeded vocalist, Davey von Bohlen, is back and poppier than ever. After the demise of my fifth favorite band of all time, The Promise Ring, back in 2002, I counted myself among the few that truly mourned the loss. I was also among the few that thought their swan song, Wood/Water, was actually a really excellent album. So naturally when I heard that Mr. von Bohlen, along with ex-Promise Ring drummer, Dan Didier, and The Dismemberment Plan’s old bassist, Eric Axelson, were joining forces under the Maritime moniker, I was more than a little excited to hear what they had cookin'.

Unfortunately, Glass Floor, the band’s debut full-length album, has been greeted with some pretty mixed reviews so far. People are saying that the album is too “saccharin” and “cookie cutter”. They claim that Maritime lacks the creative edge and relevance that its members’ previous bands enjoyed. Some are even taking potshots at von Bohlen’s vocal ability, citing Glass Floor as proof that he could never really sing in the first place. Though nearly all of these claims are completely unfounded, some of the jabs do sting a little harder than others. At the end of the day however, Glass Floor is still a fine album and promising debut.

Songs like “The Window is the Door”, “Sleep Around”, “Some One Has to Die”, “James” and “Adios” are all extremely catchy and memorable, with some lovely vocal hooks and lyrical jigsaw puzzles that will stay stuck in your head for days. These are also about as close as von Bohlen comes on the album to creating that “perfect pop song”, with “The Window is the Door“ coming in at an arguable first place. My only real complaint about Glass Floor is that quite a few of its tracks sound pretty similar. I‘m glad Maritime doesn‘t just sound like "Promise Ring 2", with many new instruments now utilized (trumpet, organ, mellotron and sax) and many new influences now explored (psychedelic, ska, Tom Jones), but it will probably take another album before they can become comfortable enough in this style to produce some real variation. Until then, stop heeding the naysayers and give Glass Floor a shot.