If we are to believe what Davey Von Bohlen says, his first run through as the front man for his new combo, Maritime, isn't something he's looking back on fondly. In a recent interview that ran in the magazine, Alternative Press, he says, "[W]e focused on everything being really lush: 'We're going to use real strings. We're gonna hire a trumpet player,' all these things that you want to do and give away, because it's just not a good idea."

A strange sentiment considering the fact that it was the touches of horns and strings and the overall lush, soulful vibe of both the Adios EP and the full-length, Glass Floor, that distinguished the group from their previous work and made both recordings some of the best music to come out in 2004.

On the current release, We, The Vehicles, Von Bohlen, drummer Dan Didier, and bassist Eric Axelson have come up with a stripped down version of the band's sound, aiming more for a more straightforward, new wave approach to the songwriting. The gentle, beating heart of their previous work has been replaced with an almost cold, metronomic sound. This especially the case for Axelson, whose fun, meandering, Jimmy Johnson-esque bass lines have been given up for a no frills, 4/4 thumping. Although it serves the songs well, you know he can do so much more.

That sentiment could sum up what holds this record back. Every song has a measured quality to it, as if the group wanted to try to do more to try and appease the more staunch believers in the word of Von Bohlen and Didier's former band, The Promise Ring, but still keep as much of what they want in the mix. It's an uncertain record, but one that still carries moments of pop genius and whimsy to keep you coming back for more.

One shining example is "Parade of Punk Rock T-Shirts," marked by a ringing disco drum beat and a near perfect vocal melody. Von Bohlen's lyrics are as cryptic and poetic as when he sang about a girl's "red and blue jeans and...white and night things". Here, he sings about eating fire and swallowing smoke and being unable to "break through with the one that you want." What he's getting at is completely open to interpretation, but it sure sounds great. Elsewhere, there's the bouncy shuffle that counteracts the desultory chorus that says that "No one will remember you tonight or ever" (on the track, "No Will Remember You Tonight") and a plinking acoustic guitar lead that wends its way through the appropriately Teutonic rhythm of "German Engineering."

Another problem this album runs into is that it doesn't really let up on the listener. It is trying to be (and could very well have been) a great pop record, but even the best examples of those have moments of breathing room. There was ample opportunities for such on Glass Floor, but this album keeps the tempos at a danceable pace and Von Bohlen occasionally sputters his lyrics out to the point where you can't keep up with anything he's saying.

The tentative feel of this record could be the result of an artistic brevity. The press information is quick to note that the second track, "Tearing Up the Oxygen," was "written shortly before it was recorded" and Von Bohlen states in the AP interview that he intended to do the record in 10 days. Given a little more time and space to move, the results could have been markedly different and possibly better. For now, We, The Vehicles is just enough to whet our appetites until next time.