Band o’ the Week: Mae

Now THIS is probably a band that none of you have heard of.  Part of me feels that you are very lucky…

Mae is a band that was formed in 2001.  The name stands for “Multi-sensory Aesthetic Experience” which comes from a college course drummer Jacob Marshall was taking.  They have released 3 albums plus about 7 EPs and B-sides along with 3 DVD sets.  Apparently people have heard of them.

Mae is the kind of band that females ranging from 13-100 would like to listen to.  There is plenty of piano, plenty of higher pitched vocals, and plenty of mushy, lovey-dovey stuff to keep any girl steaming in her seat.  For the guys, however… it’s a bit lacking (unless you like pianos, high pitched vocals and mushy, lovey-dovey stuff).

The first song I heard from Mae was “A Day in the Life” which started off making me think of the Beatles and possibly Oasis.  I enjoy both of those bands so I thought maybe I had found a new band to listen to when I wanted some mellow music.  I was duped, folks.

Attempting to pull it in lines with something popular, this band sounds a lot like Owl City.  Anyone who listens to alternative/rock radio has heard the “Fireflies” song that makes me gag every single time I hear it.  Well, if you like that song, you will probably get along well with most of Mae’s stuff.

Now don’t get me wrong, I try to pride myself in being eclectic when it comes to music.  I can listen to a whole range of things.  But when every song does nothing but want to hold my hand and take me away to Candyland, I have some issues.  There needs to be more than love and heartache to a band.  There’s no anger, there’s no passion… it’s just “you love me” or “boo hoo, you don’t love me.”  Nothing in between.

I am going to give these guys 2 out of 5 peanuts.  One song I actually kind of enjoyed was “Waiting,” but everything else just left me feeling like I needed to pull out my tuxedo, slick my hair back and go to prom.

And I could get in trouble there…