"The Maine" formed in 2007 in Tempe, Arizona and just like many other bands, they all met in high school. Girls pretty much dominate the theme of "Black and White" (produced by Howard Benson-My Chemical Romance): trying to impress the right girl or doing the wrong things in front of the right girl. At least they're not trying to write songs about things they don't know. There's also a lot of high school imagery,  talk of graduation ("Growing Up"), and sticking together because they have the whole world ahead of them.  If they keep to the structure and chemistry of this record, they could go somewhere. The lyrics will improve, but the music is there.

"Black and White" is nicely-produced and has just the right ratio of vocals to instruments (and is just darn catchy). Leadman John O'Callaghan reminds me of early Matchbox Twenty's Rob Thomas (that's a good thing) especially on "Growing Up" . O'Callaghan doesn't force his naturally-raspy voice or try to scream over the band.  There's also a nice video for "Inside of You" on YouTube which can be viewed on their MySpace page.

While labeled as "alternative rock" (that doesn't really mean what it used to, does it?), "alternative rock" is pretty much the mainstream fodder of the airwaves. While listenable, I'm afraid that "The Maine" may end up blending in with every other band I've heard in a while.

If you want to follow the band, go here: http://www.myspace.com/themaine and pick any one of the social media links at the top of the page. Tour dates are listed, too.