{"id":100150,"date":"2025-09-11T15:00:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T14:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=100150"},"modified":"2025-09-10T22:52:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T21:52:17","slug":"review-liquid-mike-hell-is-an-airport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-liquid-mike-hell-is-an-airport\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Liquid Mike – Hell Is An Airport"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ever since forming\u00a0Liquid Mike<\/strong> five years ago, Mike Maple has certainly kept himself busy.\u00a0‘Hell Is An Airport’<\/em> is the sixth full-length under this moniker, yet the Michigan native isn’t alone. Synth player and vocalist Monica Nelson, drummer Cody Maracek and bassist Zack Alworden have been frequent collaborators. Alworden’s\u00a0Charmer<\/strong> bandmate, guitarist Dave Daignault, joined the band two years ago. Despite surrounding himself with trustworthy cohorts,\u00a0‘Hell Is An Airport’\u00a0<\/em>sees Maple maintain a personal touch to its 14 songs.<\/p>\n

At its thematic core is the self-depricating Maple. Whether that’s the monotony of everyday life on\u00a0‘AT&T,’<\/em> or how his body hates him on\u00a0‘Claws,’\u00a0<\/em>Maple utilises humour to get through the mundanity and bleak self-awareness. Rather than wallow in his own failures, he’s able to laugh at his own failures. For example, ‘Groucho Marks’\u00a0<\/em>shows he’s coping, taping together broken items, while his bandmates charge with a punchy rhythm section and a wall of distortion. On\u00a0‘Lit From the Wrong End,’<\/em> he uses a slapstick metaphor of sledging\u00a0downhill and meeting an unexpected jump.<\/p>\n

He also leans into nostalgia as he\u00a0reminisces about shopping malls (‘Selling Swords’<\/em>), the wistful ache of a past summer (”99′<\/em>), and a depleted house someone’s father built (‘Crop Circles’<\/em>). It hints at a songwriter with mortality weighing on his shoulders, especially on the latter. It\u2019s a way of grounding his humour in something more human and relatable, even making the self-deprecation hit harder than intended.<\/p>\n

It’s all countered by an abundance of hook-laden songs. No song barely stretches the three-minute mark, making\u00a0‘Hell Is An Airport’<\/em> an easily digestible record. From the moment\u00a0‘Instantly Wasted’<\/em> launches, you’re introduced by\u00a0Liquid Mike<\/strong>‘s swift, anthemic style. Tracks such as\u00a0‘Lit From the Wrong End’<\/em> and ‘Grand Am’ <\/em>whisk by with ease, utilising favourable guitar licks and an energetic rhythm.<\/p>\n