It’s Mae’s Day

If you happen to go to a show featuring the bands Copeland or The Starting Line, try to get there early for someone who might be opening. Their name is Mae, and they’re on the rise.After their first self-titled EP, Mae released their first full-length album called “Destination: Beautiful.” Catchy guitar riffs, breakdowns with bittersweet keyboard melodies, and tuneful vocals define their style. The keyboards add depth to the songs without being overbearingly electronic or rock-classical, and while the group is energetic and (at times) wild in their performance, thankfully they do not resort to screaming vocals and unintelligible lyrics at any point.

The band falls into a new, as yet unnamed, sound. It is derivative of rock, emo, and hardcore…but is not afraid to be more melodic and less raw. It comes close to pop, and a proper prediction may be that in another year Mae will be on MTV where Jimmy Eat World was last year. Yet pop it is not, and like the sound of other new bands that are becoming popular as well (such as Copeland), it is appropriately described on their website as “melodic, energetic rock.” Or perhaps, if I Mae be so bold, in the vein of a new passionate, indie rock.