MAYVE Animals EP Review: Promising, But Lacking

Imagine a threesome between Neon Trees, your favorite emo band and your favorite surfer-rock band. That’s what MAYVE’s “Animals EP” sounds like. But with all of the ingredients to achieve Tumblr fame or even chart success, the band fails at creating standout hits.

“Animals EP” ends up sounding like something that would play at your local H&M or Forever 21, but not something you’d listen to on your own. Do you ever Shazam a song in one of those stores and try to listen to it later, only to realize that it’s just not the same? That’s what seems to be the issue here.

The first two tracks, “Talking to Myself” and “Higher” are the only standout tracks on the five-track project and even those two don’t reach high enough. The intro to “Talking to Myself” is a page out of any surfer-rock band’s book, but it’s especially reminiscent of Best Coast, an indie band from Los Angeles.

“Hearts on Fire” is pretty optimistic and is laced with a pretty upbeat synth loop, contrary to “Magic” which is just as optimistic but very subdued with the strumming of an acoustic guitar. Neither of the two songs, however, are memorable earworms since they lack a strong melody.

The album is light-hearted, soft, breezy and it has a very feminine tone. Coincidentally, or maybe not, Mayve is an Irish name that means “a captivating or intoxicating woman.” The music here, though, isn’t captivating or intoxicating.

The album cover, which contains light shades of blue, pink and purple, adds to the aesthetic of the album. It’s pretty clear that MAYVE didn’t just throw things at a wall, hoping for something to stick. The band stuck to their concept, through and through, which is interesting for a group of artists this early in their career.

In their biography on ReverbNation.com, it states that “Since MAYVE’s inception, the goal has been to create an all-encompassing aesthetic through image and sound.” But while they succeed at making their sound and their image as cohesive as possible, they miss out on making some immaculate, out-of-the-box music, something that doesn’t feel as contrived as they brag about it being.

The New York quintet could definitely learn a thing or two by just letting loose and letting their artistry speak louder than their talent. The musicianship is there, the vocals, though under some manipulation, are there and the use of striking imagery is there. They just need to break out of the box they built for themselves.

Without a doubt, MAYVE has something up their sleeve, but if their heart’s not on it, it’s hard for anyone to be interested in what might be up there. If the group continues their efforts, they should be wilder, a little more risqué and as the title of the album suggests, they should be a little more animalistic and follow their instincts.