Chapel Hill’s Mayflies USA is a band who shamelessly wears its influences on its sleeve.
With jangly guitar parts, sweet three-part harmonies and hard-on bass lines, the Mayflies channel the lost pop sensibilities of REM, Big Star, Teenage Fanclub and XTC.
In today’s radio world where guitars have finally come back, albeit in the hands of tatted up jockboys, this band reminds us of a time when good songs and tasty production were the norm on radio and MTV.
Their newest album, Walking in a Straight Line, is kind, but not necessarily gentle guitar pop.
Despite hooking up with producer Keith Cleversley, whose previous work with The Flaming Lips and Spiritualized has raised the bar for modern psychedelia, this album showcases the musical abilities of the individual Mayflies – David Liesegang (drums), Matt Long (guitar), Matt McMichaels (vocals, guitar) and Adam Price (vocals, bass) – by stripping off the bells and whistles.
Walking in a Straight Line was recorded predominantly live with a bare minimum of overdubs and no Pro-Tools chicanery (which is rare in this day and age of digital recording where a band can give a few lackluster takes and a producer can edit them down to a coherent song).
Through these somewhat archaic recording techniques, Walking in a Straight Line paints the picture of a real band moving headstrong into creative maturity.
Although being recorded during the bleak Chicago winter of this year, the album is primarily an upbeat, motivated affair.
The title track is a great choice for an opener, a punch drunk pop gem that easily keeps your attention and hoping for more of this gooey goodness.
Others such as “123,” “Malasia” and “Can’t Stop Watching” are all instantly hooky songs that you can’t help learning the words to, simply so you can sing along.
The album’s closer, “Sweet 16” is a voyage into dark, keyboard-heavy, Ian Curtis infested waters, which, according to their bio, is a place where they will return on their next album.
So if you’re a fan of well written songs capably played by white guys with guitars, then you’re in luck. The Mayflies USA should be your new favorite band.

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