Chile may not be a country particularly well known for exporting its musical talent around the world, but the début EP from Maff certainly suggests that there is a creatively rich, if relatively unknown music scene worth exploring. Taking their influences from a wide range of bands and refusing to limit themselves to just one genre, Maff is just as concerned with creating vast musical soundscapes as they are crafting noisy three minute pop songs.
‘Act 1’ for example, is a relatively short instrumental track that has an almost Joy Division post-punk feel to it, particularly with the bass line. However they then launch straight into ‘Linger Around’, the fuzzed out guitars and laid-back vocals reminiscent of J Mascis and Dinosaur Jr. The sense of restlessness continues with yet another change in pace for ‘Walking On Fire’, as a simple riff plays over walls of guitars and rolling drums, with the vocals used more sparingly.
This constant shift between styles jars quite a bit, and as good as most of the tracks are individually there’s no sense of continuation. Even the press release states how Maff will take you on a whirlwind through genres such as shoegaze, alternative rock, noise pop, and indie, but the lack of any common theme makes it hard to see the wisdom in changing things up so much.
‘Million Year Picnic’ finds them again mixing grungy chords with pop sensibilities, as does the energetic ‘Planet Wave’, but ‘You’ is by far the best song here. Managing to sound expansive but focussed, the buzzing guitars and high tempo drumming help drive the song forwards and it’s the highlight of the EP. Unfortunately the same can’t be said of ‘Someday’, the female vocals showcase yet another side to the band, but the song itself is dreary and lacks direction.
Maff should be applauded for taking such an ambitious approach to a début release, but the sense that they are, at times, pretty much just ticking off a list of their favourite bands and influences for the sake of it makes it a frustrating listen. Whether or not they can reign their influences in and channel their creativity in the direction of the grunge-pop that they excel at remains to be seen, but their journey is sure to be an interesting one whatever they do in the future.
CHRIS HILSON