Released on Monday, February 5 2007
From the moment you hear The Maple State's music, it's pretty obvious who they draw their influences from - The Smiths being quite clearly the most particular choice, since lead singer Gregory Counsell's vocal is very Morrissey-like, although it could also be likened to that of Vincent Vincent, of Vincent Vincent and The Villains fame. The back-of-the-throat, slightly high-pitched singing is nothing new to the indie scene, and in fact so many bands draw on The Smiths, or indeed Morrissey himself as inspiration that voices like Counsell's are not unique, rather more leaning towards ten'a'penny.
The Manchester-based group's debut release is a double A-side on 7" of 'Joanna' and 'Wood And Rain'.
Both are pretty typical whiny indie fare, and although this will likely make it onto many iTunes playlists, it's all a bit heard-before. There's great drumming from John Goodwin, who keeps the song together with his tight style, and indeed Christian Counsell's guitar work is pretty snappy when it gets a bit of a solo spin, but the tracks just don't tell you anything new, and with the advent of power-pop into the top end of the charts once more, it looks like The Maple State may have to try something else if the indie kids don't latch onto this release.
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