Over the past month or two, music blogs around the U.S. have been singing the praises of Heresy and the Hotel Choir, the latest album by the Milwaukee-based quartet, Maritime. In our frenzied age where a kind word from a particular web site can double the sales or downloads of an indie band's music, this would seem to bode well for the band, right?
"You know, it doesn't really at this point mean anything." So says Davey Von Bohlen, Maritime's front man and someone who knows from hype, having spent 1995 to 2002 leading the emo-by-way-of-power pop group The Promise Ring to worldwide acclaim. "We're enjoying, over the last year, a really nice upswing, but this type of thing doesn't mean anything. I'll take it over not taking it, but they are unhatched eggs to be sure."
You can't fault Von Bohlen for being cautious about expectations. When he started Maritime in 2004 with longtime cohort Dan Didier (drums) and former Dismemberment Plan bassist Eric Axelson, the indie blogs were chomping at the proverbial bit to get a listen to hear what the outcome was. Yet, when the Adios EP and the full length, Glass Floor, arrived, the wind came out of the sails of many of fans who weren't looking for a lush, often gentle pop record. Von Bohlen puts the reaction as gently as he can, "Our first record didn't exactly blow any of the critics away."
From the sounds of both the early reviews and the record itself, that will not be the case with Heresy. The snappy, energetic new disc fulfills the promise that Maritime whispered in our ears on their first batch of releases, finding that sacred middle ground between the band's more introspective early work and the solid pop punch of their last album.
And although Von Bohlen’s lyrics are still as fragmentary and poetic as ever, it is obvious that the current political climate has had an effect on his worldview. Throughout the album, words like “peril” and “terrified” pop up and elsewhere he notes that “times and troubles wash right over us.” “It’s there cause it’s there,” he says of the lyrics, “It is not possible to ignore. I’m not trying to get on the soapbox or anything, but it’s not avoidable.”
Von Bohlen also points to the use of the word “heresy” in the album’s title, which he feels “is pretty perfect in today’s temperature. It almost feels like everything is against the vein and if you’re not into the idea that the American economy is the best, then it’s heresy.”
One big reason that Von Bohlen has such a fear for the world and its future can be felt close to home, where he has a wife and two young children. It is a development that has both colored his outlook on life and how he approaches being in a band. For example, ask him about any plans for the future of Maritime and he quickly points out, “Other than a tour, we don’t have any big plans ever anymore. It’s so much harder to do with everyone’s kids growing up. And I’m more stricken with the disease to help because I can’t imagine watching my wife man our household by herself.”
It is that thinking that extended into the search for a new bass player after Axelson’s departure. The group had done a tour with their current bassist Justin Klug filling in for Axelson, but he didn’t become a full-fledged member until last year. "Justin was just about to have a baby and wasn't sure what to do with his share of Decibully [Klug’s former band]," recalls Von Bohlen, "We just let him know, 'If you ever want to join...’ I mean, Decibully is a band that wants to tour all the time and that is not going to happen for a new daddy. So, it's the best of both worlds for everyone I think."
So, although the band will be taking off on a tour to support Heresy when it hits record store shelves, the farthest Maritime is looking into the future is working on new material this winter. That and the possibility of a future outside of music, as when AMPLIFIER caught up with Von Bohlen, he was on his way to a tax accounting class. “I’m a dork. I took about twelve years off from college so I’m flying back into it. I don’t know what will come of it, but between this and music, when I’m ready to be employable again, we’ll see which one of my talents wins out.”
--Bob Ham
Photo: Mark Dawursk
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Maritime’s Heresy and the Hotel Choir is released October 16. 2007 on Flameshovel Records.
http://www.maritimesongs.com
http://www.myspace.com/maritimesongs
