"you're day ruins my day..."
Portland indie rock / art punk outfit MAITA which might just be the crystalized ID gone mad (or gone syrupy sweet) of Japanese-American songwriter Maria Maita-Keppeler. The songs feel like the inner workings of her inner emotional clock. Her songs dazzle you in abrupt ways and from what I have heard of her new stuff, the stuff that will be on MAITA's new album "I Just Want To Be Wild For You" dropping on Feb 18th 2022 via Kill Rock Stars will be extra dazzling, like bathing in thousands of sugar cookies or your confectionary pleasures of choice. Oh and the sugar cookie thing is not because MAITA swims in pop although there is a shiny pop sheen on their art punk sound.
Take for example, ""You Sure Can Kill a Sunday, Part I", a beautifully hyper kinetic track that punches and sways in wonderful ways. I love Keppeler's vocal aesthetic that is upfront amid the raucous power pop / indie rock guitars that ramp up, the leads that feel glam, and the unbridled drums (damn, the snappy high hat work, wow) and pounding bass that are exquisitely mosh worthy. At the same time, the track, "Written in response to a debate she and her partner had over their dreams, the song is a sonic representation of one side of an argument: erratic, frustrated, and raw" full of acerbic turns, and furrowed brow scowls, is also delivered in a controlled way, maybe even holier than thou way ("tell me about your pain and what I did to earn it..."). In the end, it is a passionate art punk hammer and MAITA absolutely nails it down.
Yeah, I am looking forward to the new album... a lot.
-Robb Donker Curtius
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THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
https://www.facebook.com/maitamusic
https://www.maitamusic.com/
https://www.instagram.com/maitamusic/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4vS7F8WLAPxQyMNAAHt9pn
Growing up in Oregon splitting time between her mom’s Japanese-speaking home and her father’s English-speaking home, Maita-Keppeler found an expressive avenue out of her shyness through music. “I was getting so much out of songwriters like Elliott Smith, Feist, and Cat Power at a point when I really needed them,” she says. That fiery devotion brought her to perform at open mics in college, to connect with other people through art.
Along with guitarist/producer Matthew Zeltzer, bassist Nevada Sowle, and multi-instrumentalist Cooper Trail, the Portland-based singer-songwriter tapped into that intimate longing, recording I Just Want To Be Wild For You in a recording studio located in the basement of a church. When it came time to record piano, the group set up microphones in the midst of the sanctuary, the sound of the grand piano matched only by the raindrops dotting across the 40-foot ceilings.
After the critical success of MAITA’s Kill Rock Stars debut, Best Wishes, Maita-Keppeler and her bandmates dedicated their time to reinforcing their already heady compositions, adding a deeper echo of the label’s indie rock legacy. From the churning glow of “Pastel Concrete” to the riotous give-and-take of “Honey, Have I Lost It All?”, I Just Want To Be Wild For You frames the complex emotionality of Maita-Keppeler’s lyrics in visceral songs that sink immediately into the heart. By picking apart the smallest moments of confusion, uncertainty, and disconnection, Maita-Keppeler’s songs discover the heights of emotion.
MAITA, indie rock, alt pop, art pop, art punk, Portland Oregon, new album, "I Just Want To Be Wild For You", Japanese American songwriter, Maria Maita-Keppeler, “You Sure Can Kill a Sunday (Part I)”,
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THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
https://www.facebook.com/maitamusic
https://www.maitamusic.com/
https://www.instagram.com/maitamusic/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4vS7F8WLAPxQyMNAAHt9pn
Growing up in Oregon splitting time between her mom’s Japanese-speaking home and her father’s English-speaking home, Maita-Keppeler found an expressive avenue out of her shyness through music. “I was getting so much out of songwriters like Elliott Smith, Feist, and Cat Power at a point when I really needed them,” she says. That fiery devotion brought her to perform at open mics in college, to connect with other people through art.
Along with guitarist/producer Matthew Zeltzer, bassist Nevada Sowle, and multi-instrumentalist Cooper Trail, the Portland-based singer-songwriter tapped into that intimate longing, recording I Just Want To Be Wild For You in a recording studio located in the basement of a church. When it came time to record piano, the group set up microphones in the midst of the sanctuary, the sound of the grand piano matched only by the raindrops dotting across the 40-foot ceilings.
After the critical success of MAITA’s Kill Rock Stars debut, Best Wishes, Maita-Keppeler and her bandmates dedicated their time to reinforcing their already heady compositions, adding a deeper echo of the label’s indie rock legacy. From the churning glow of “Pastel Concrete” to the riotous give-and-take of “Honey, Have I Lost It All?”, I Just Want To Be Wild For You frames the complex emotionality of Maita-Keppeler’s lyrics in visceral songs that sink immediately into the heart. By picking apart the smallest moments of confusion, uncertainty, and disconnection, Maita-Keppeler’s songs discover the heights of emotion.
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