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Go-Go Magazine review of Chatfield Holiday CD, october 2002

The Maybellines make big eye music, an aural Keane painting.  Their relentlessly good-spirited, simple pop is the kind of stuff we don't get enough of here in Denver, where everything is dark or heavy or complex or boorish.  It seems odd that they're here at all, since their sound is so far removed from that of their peers.  

Sure, there are pop bands, and some good ones, in the area--but the Maybellines could fit in at Kindergarten playtime as easily as the Bluebird.  When they do get a little fuzzy and fast, it's in the service of songs, "Drama Queen" and "Big Wheel," that are still eminently huggable.  Nice, even.  When was the last time you heard a band and thought, "aw, they sound so nice?"

For instance, "Battleship" is all about a game of Battleship.  Battleship rules.  The one semi-melancholy tune, "7 Blocks Away," is still rife with hope and optimism--"When will you see me?/I'm only 7 blocks away."  There is no bait and switch going on here; The Maybellines play fun, sunny music that wears its heart and intentions on its record sleeve.  This is 10 songs worth of good mood.  Couldn't we all use that?  --Teddy Fandango

Westword review of Chatfield Holiday CD, october 2002

A profile of your average Maybellines fan: thick glasses, cardigan sweater, scuffed-up thrift-store shoes, a back pocket full of half-melted candy, and a record shelf stacked with 45s by Stereolab, Tiger Trap, Heavenly, and the Modern Lovers.  The Maybellines stick Casio organ tones into buzzy guitar riffs like cards into the spokes of bicycles; chirpy melodies bop back and forth across wind-up-toy rhythms.  Their song topics are indie-pop standard issue -- girls, boys, books,dreams, girls, boys -- but the delivery is so untainted by attitude or cool that it feels as fresh as the first rush of puberty.  Chatfield Holiday just goes to prove what this band's following has known all along:  The Maybellines are to pop what Ivory is to soap.  --Jason Heller

Westword review of Amateur Rocket Club split single, january 2002

Three of the four bands who appear on the seven-inch Amateur Rocket Club hail from the Queen City, giving this modest entry into science-fair boosterism a distinctive hometown charm.  Breezy Porticos, Kudzu Towers and the Maybellines unite with Utah's Jenni Jensens to give the journal-keepers and do-it-yourselfers a labor of analog love.  The results?  A cool cloud-gazing, ivy-munching, mahvalous makeover in clear red and blue vinyl.   --John La Briola

Punk Planet review of CDep, may/june 2001 issue #43

Very pleasant pop with female vocals, bouncing bass lines and some organ parts.  With only 8 songs, this is, dare I say, too short.   You guys could add another minute on each song and I really wouldn’t mind.  I’m such a sissy.   --Neal Shah

Informativos-net review of CDep, fall 2000

Ocho canciones de bubblegum pop que se derriten en la boca. The Maybellines vienen desde Colorado con un Cd-Ep de ocho canciones de esas frescas, inmediatas y empalagosas en su justa medida, puro entusiasmo pop. Con una voz femenina que es toda frescura, como corresponde a estos casos, ayudada en ocasiones por otra voz masculina, el cuarteto perfila un escaparate breve (quince minutos) de ingenuidad, de mínima solvencia instrumental saldada con entusiasmo y encanto. Puro indie-pop, sectario si quieres pero resultón, con estribillos inmediatos, teclados convincentes y alguna guitarra ("Happiness digest") salida de tono para que el conjunto pierda la uniformidad poppie. Encantadores, cuatro jóvenes que no han roto un plato en su vida pero que destrozarán tu corazón pop. Melodías instantáneas que se resumen a la perfección en temas como "Bomb pop", "Space mission bible camp" o "Sleep over". Los cuatro acordes radiantes de toda la vida llevados a buen puerto.   --Jesus Castillo

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