The Maine - The Maine (Deluxe Edition) (2023)

The Maine's self-titled album is on my short list for one of the best of 2023! This is a disc that explodes out of the speakers. This is the 9th full-length set by this alternative band from Tempe, Arizona. (The band's name comes from the song 'Coast of Maine' by Ivory.) track "Spiraling" which repeats its edgy profanity to convey how crazy in love the singer feels, "I'm all f'd up on you, Try to play it cool, There's nothing I can do, I'm all f'd up on you." "I Think About You All the Time" rocks out while a guy tries to drink his ex out of his brain. "Thoughts I Have While Lying in Bed" bounces to a guy's inner dialogue as he tries to talk himself out of the conclusion that he's in love. There's tasty electric lead guitar on that track. "Dose No. 2" gives me flashbacks to Talking Heads as the lyrics shotgun, "Give me life, give me love, leveled up on a higher dose." The fifth of the ten tracks that I think is just crazy-nuts-good is "Leave in 5" with the uber-catchy chorus, "Been waiting all night, out of nowhere baby's on fire but she don't care." "The Maine" is brilliant pop-rock. Bravo!