Album Review: Maker - 'I-91'

27 June 2010 | 10:03 pm | Staff Writer
Originally Appeared In

Raw, honest and damn good.

Maker are a pop punk band with a slight melodic hardcore influence from Springfield, Massachusetts, drawing comparisons to former and current greats like Lifetime, The Movielife, Transit, and even at times early Saves The Day. The band’s debut release for Pennsylvania based label Either/Or Records offers four new tracks of the band’s strongest material to date.


Regarded for their sincere, no bullshit approach to the increasingly popular genre, “I-91” shows how the band’s song writing and overall sound has matured since the release of the band’s previous material.


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The EP’s opening track “Anything” starts off with a slower, drawn out intro before kicking into the song’s body, which is unrelenting. Obvious comparisons to Lifetime and early Saves The Day are going to be made, but that definitely isn’t a bad thing at all. “Calendars” skips the melodic intro formula and doesn’t muck around at all, the vocal teamwork of front man Dave Carter and guitarist Eric Soucy is something to be commended, a strength that is handy for the band to have under their belt.


While the first two tracks of the EP are quite good, the following two songs are the ones to write home about. The bass line at the start of the EP’s title track “I-91” is something that Kid Dynamite would be proud of, and contains some of the catchiest hooks the band has produced to date. I can easily see this song becoming a fan favourite.


Closing out the EP is the slower, but still powerful “Stand By Me”. The song’s chorus is easily the catchiest and most memorable section of the EP. Showing everything the band has to offer, from the crunching guitars, driving drums, passionate vocals and sing-a-long inciting gang vocals, this song is Maker at their absolute best.

“I-91” is four tracks of raw, honest hardcore influenced pop punk that is worthy of putting Maker up there with some of the bigger names in the genre. With such a large work ethic and tour schedule, the band’s forthcoming full length should be something promising to look out for.

1. Anything

2. Calendars

3. I-91

4. Stand By Me