Possessing Welcome To Maple Mars, the debut from L.A.'s Maple Mars, is like having your very own International Pop Overthrow (the annual City of Angels power-pop shindig) in a handy 12-song package. Maple Mars main man Rick Hromadka previously fronted Double Naught Spies, and guests on Welcome To... include members of 20 Cent Crush and Chewy Marble, as well as Rick "Cloud Eleven" Gallego. If those names mean nothing to you, no matter -- you're going to enjoy the visit anyway. Highlights for me are the jangly "All Brand New" (a frequent dead ringer for '70s hit "Hitchin' a Ride") and "Absolute Zero," which finds Hromadka coming off like a poppier version of one of his old favorites, the Replacements. "Souvenir" demonstrates that when nice guys write angry songs, they still come out sounding, well, nice. And after several trips, you just might think that "The Perfect Song" ("I finally wrote for you the perfect song/It's just a shame that you're not here to sing along") comes close to living up to its title.

Rick Cornell (MoMZine - Miles Of Music)