Maelee Whitman
West Of Pleasant (eightysevenwest)
by Marc Hirsh
originally published in Space City Rock,
Spring 2005
If you have seen enough live music, you’ve come
across bands
like Maelee Whitman. They’re the types who wander slowly onto the stage
without
fanfare, pick up their instruments without addressing the audience and
begin
playing some low-key something with a measured pace that defies the
conventional wisdom that you should probably start your set with
something
immediate and attention-grabbing. And slowly, one by one, the crowd
shuts up
and starts listening to the music with, if not enthusiasm, at least
interested
curiosity. And by the time the band is done, they might not have any
new fans,
exactly, but they have an audience.
West Of Pleasant
is a lot like that. It’s not an album that grabs you, but it generates
its own
momentum in much the same way that a Sigur Rós album builds
moment by moment.
Maelee Whitman have a clearer sonic palette than that, though, with
instruments
that are more defined and songs with clearer intentions, like the
gorgeous
“E(a)ves,” which casts a spell for seven minutes that are over before
you
realize it. Building on Americana
sources, the band’s sound is characterized by clear acoustic guitars
and
atmospheric electrics; songs where the latter dominate, like “No More”
and “Of
Blood And Love,” are fairly rare. Despite the occasional lead vocal by
guitarist Kyle Larson, whose has more than a little Jay Farrar in his
throat,
it’s Holly Muñoz who carries the album with a voice that’s a
cross between
Suzanne Vega and Lois. She’s the soul of the most entrancing cuts, like
the
aforementioned “E(a)ves” and “Across The Square,” where a muted bass is
melded
to thwacking drums like a DIY version of “You Don’t Know How It Feels.”
West Of Pleasant is an album of modest
pleasures, but some days, that’s enough.
Back to reviews