Reviews

This is a B sides album. For those unfamiliar, this means if you like this band, you may or may not want to buy this album. Are you a completist? You want this. Are you a casual fan? Probably not then. If you don’t like this band, or have never heard them, this is not the place to wet your feet.  It’s like having never heard the Beatles and then having your first taste of them be a bootleg your uncle made forty years ago. Perceptions will be skewed.
 
Mae (or Multisensory Aesthetic Experience, as they prefer you would call them, legally) is a super sweet pop band, of the type known to cause cavities in small children. They’ve got the ultra-high quality production Tooth and Nail sheen, an Underoath like synthesizer, and a breathy almost Sensefield-like singer. They’ve toured with everyone from Sugarcult (another sweets reference) to Something Corporate; both ‘S’ bands, both pop-centered melody makers. This is the frame in which we are working. Mae is undeniably catchy, and the added electronic production on the two remixed tracks really brings out that shine. The Wave Remix of This Time Is The Last Time backs their syrupy pop sound with Postal Service-esque beats. Not entirely unenjoyable; quite infectious actually, and it really makes you move your hips.
 
The album is filled out with two acoustic tracks (Sun, and Giving it Away) three live tracks (Sun, Futero, and This Time Is The Last Time), the two aforementioned remixes, and three honest to goodness B sides (Suspension, Tisbury Lane, and Awakening). I can’t fault Mae’s sound, but I’m sure it’s been captured better other places, and with less song repetition. How many versions of Sun and This Time Is The Last Time do Mae listeners need, or even want? Both are great songs, but this duplication seems excessive. The new songs, the actual B sides, the oops, no space on the LP songs, are great though. Tisbury Lane’s lazy jazz feel provides the perfect backdrop for a dreamy song of self improvement. All told, Destination: B Sides is for Mae’s fans; people intrigued but skeptical ought to start with last year’s Destination: Beautiful before plunging into the waters off the B side of the dock.