REVIEW: “Bitter/Maxray Split” (EP) + “Aploy” (Track) - Maxray or Will
Maxray or Will is a two piece indie-emo outfit that split time between New York and Philadelpahia. In 2014, they released a 3 song demo split with Bitter Tuesdays. They contributed the final two songs on the demo, “2chrds” and “Harmonix.” The first song on the demo “Brighter Side of Mean” sounds like feel good folkish indie, that you can imagine a family singing this song around a campfire, which is odd for a band that is attempting to communicate the alienation specific to post-college twenty something experience. The song is extremely catchy with an upbeat melody that repeats through most of the song. The song is a little simplistic and never fully grabbed my attention. The second track “2chrds” is a really simple, straightforward song that has, you guessed it, seemingly only two chords. The vocal styling’s draw from an emo aesthetic, but the instrumentation doesn’t have the force or size to back up the meaningful lyrics and powerful vocals. The end of the song has a strong finish that drives home the lyrics, allowing the song to be as large as it should be. This song makes it obvious that the band is a two piece, and feels like there should be something more to fill out the song.
The third and final song from the split, “Harmonix,” gave the exact opposite feeling. The emo American Football-esque guitar, rapid pace changes, and strong vocals fill the whole of the song, so much so that it feels like there is more than two people in the band. “Harmonix” is the strongest song of Maxray or Will’s on the entire split, and the strongest of all the songs. This song left me feeling like Maxray or Will was moving closer to finding their sound, whereas “2chrds” had me wondering what it was that they were aiming for. When asked about the inspiration for the songs, Maxray or Will had this to say about the two songs from the split, “Each song draws from different points of inspiration: social anxiety/alienation/indeciveness (sic) (harmonix), self mutilation/abusive relations (2chrds), and the plight of being weak, defeatist, ‘nice.’” These themes are fleshed out really well in the lyrics, but “2chrds” musically falls short of expressing these large and heavy themes. “Harmonix” does a much better job of creating the musical effect necessary to convey the themes that Maxray or Will set out to explore.
Maxray or Will recently released a new single entitled “Aploy” that builds upon the sound from “Harmonix” and is an even stronger song. I wasn’t asked to review this song, but I felt it was necessary to get a true feel for the direction Maxray or Will is going in. And I am really glad I chose to listen to “Aploy” because it’s well crafted and well executed, with effective use of harmony in the vocals and strong presence instrumentally. Having these three songs as my first exposure to Maxray or Will, it seems to me that this is a band that is growing more sure of itself and coming closer to its full potential all the time. Each successive song was better than the last. I’m looking forward to hearing more of their catalogue, and to see what they can do on an EP or LP release.
-Nick Silcox, writer
See the band at Pine Box Rock Shop on July 26th in Brooklyn and at The Elk's Lodge in Boston on July 11th.
Listen: maxrayorwill.bandcamp.com