Maplewood - Yeti Boombox (CD)

All Music Guide

One might assume that yetis would either be into Tibetan religious chants or random German art rock, but on the basis of the Brooklynbased Maplewood's second album, they prefer to crank sweetly sung, steel guitartinged, and ultimately fairly conventional countryrock ditties when stomping around the Himalayas. Which is no crime, but a little more bass would probably keep the boombox going some. All of which is to say that Maplewood are out to pay homage to their harmony singing and sweetly twanging inspirations so well that there's honestly little to say about it in the end tender sentiments, gentle strums, the feeling of the kind of stuff that went down well after coming home from the bar back in 1978 but perhaps with a little less of a backbeat. It's no surprise at all that Gerry Beckley from the band America takes a guest turn on the album, and even less of a surprise that whatever one thinks of Yeti Boombox will likely be conditioned by that fact.

- Ned Raggett, All Music Guide