MAZES

Well they began as a duo of keyboards and guitar led by WOODEN SHJIPS guitarist Ripley Johnson, joined by Sanae Yamada who mostly plays organ and there's fake drums as well. They have been a trio since 2015's "Shadow Of The Sun" when they added John Jeffrey as their drummer. He had been their live drummer up to this point. I should point out that "Mazes" is their second studio album not their debut as shown here as that honour belongs to "Escape" from 2010.

I have been listening to a lot of psychedelic music over the past year and this particular album just doesn't do it for me. They clearly had a plan to lock into a groove and stay there while male vocals and guitar come and go. A very samey album which I'm okay with reminding me of HAWKWIND a lot. As the reviewer on Pitchfork says this is a pop/psychedelic album where they use pop templates to support their drone and krautrock tendencies. Very repetitive and I really don't like the drum machine at times. I'd actually like to hear some of their newer albums as this band continues to put out music.

Based in California I do enjoy this album but it comes across as being a little too vanilla for my tastes. My descriptions for each track are almost the same with some variations. What stands out for me is the hand clapping on "When You Cut". Lots of catchy psychedelia clocking in at 44 minutes the perfect album length. And no liner notes or information to a fault, a pet peeve of mine. 3 stars and not a keeper.