Say Anything / The Maple State

Having seen The Maple State earlier this year at the Night and Day I was expecting good things from the local boys, who have made themselves known in venues across the city and acquired a loyal fan base. This could be due to their preppy good looks or the fact that the band have churned out some tracks that can hold the titles of originality and talent.

Gracing the Academy 3 stage, the foursome looked as clean cut and immaculate as ever, delving right into their 30 minute energetic set of drum beats, and fast paced guitar rhythms. Vocalist Greg Counsell holds a unique front man voice, ranging from extreme high pitched hysteria to melodic Indie tones. Songs played were the eclectic “The fall of shi gau rui”, “You can’t put two hotels on Mayfair”, “It’s hot as hell” and the forth coming single “Joanna.”

The group work well together on stage, and this was proved by a practically flawless set. Definitely a band with a difference and not one to be bored of easily, The Maple State are set for bigger and brighter things if their level of dedication and input remains this consistent. And who can resist Indie with a dash of synths?

Say Anything front man Max Bemis has been writing and devising music since his early days in High School over girls and heartbreak, and after many line up changes, the band seem to have found their footing and more so their identity. For a band that haven’t been primarily orientated towards the UK punk/emo scene, a sizeable crowd gathered for the performance with a strong allegiance of fans at the barriers moshing and singing into the microphone whenever Bemis pointed it at them.

Say Anything could be described as a Blink182 with a little more backbone, and a little less teen angst. Bemis’ voice progresses past whining into a more manly demeanour. Crowd favourites were noteably “The Spider Song” and the ever amusing, “Wow I can get sexual too!” which induced many 15 year olds to start chanting “I called her on the phone and she touched herself!”. However, more serious material was played from the new album, which in its own right is a damn good record and one any punk-rock-emo fan should acquire. Say Anything have character, guts and the ability to not take themselves too seriously, a good trait for any band in this genre to own as ‘shelf life’ as such is unpredictable.

All in all, a happy, fun gig but probably one for the kids. Or the teenagers at least.

FUTURE GIGS