Album Review | Maximo Park : A Certain Trigger (2005, Warp)

As dozens of bands surge out of the United Kingdom with influence from Joy Division, Buzzcocks, the Jam and Pulp, finding an identity is going to become more of a commodity than the tight, coordinated rhythms and angular guitar work. Front men will all share either the sullen, spasm of Ian Curtis, the drunken swagger of Mark E. Smith or the borderline pomposity of Jarvis Cocker. With the demos piling and the cash coming in on a genre that has nearly tapped itself out at infancy, deciding exactly where Maximo Park fit in is going to be more and more difficult.

The lyrics of Paul Smith and, more importantly, how he delivers them separate this Newcastle-Upon-Tyne five-piece from their growing contemporaries. His rapid-fire multi-syllabic bursts are anything but robotic, as he exudes emotion in every breath. Whether speaking of misplaced affections (“Kiss You Better”) and near-obsessive analysis of social class (“Signal and Sign ”), his charm carries to his target. Imagery of him stomping through “Now I’m All Over the Shop” declaring to everyone how he knows what is best can be almost provoking in it’s confidence.

The shuffling pluck of Duncan Lloyd’s guitar work seems standard substance for the style they at first appear to fit, and then his diverse abilities shine through. Thusly songs like “Going Missing” grow around Smith’s words and rise from instrumental repetition into bold, blissful pop. The bass and drum of Archis Tiku and Tom English applies a rhythm so oppressively exact to one another that Smith, Lloyd and Lukas Wooller’s keys are given ample room maneuver their own elements.

“Signal and Sign” rings like an urgent single with arresting hooks and guitar breaks working well over a loosened rhythm. Bravado and sonic excess shove “Graffiti” into willing skulls to rescind into a saunter exposing a once bored, frustrated life. The electronic boom-bip of “Acrobat” drifts over a much more relaxed tempo, with remote church organs balancing Smith’s spoken couplets into a passionate, remorseful chorus bringing focus to heartache. His ability to blend scathing social commentaries with self-consciousness and still maintain his audacious streak makes the group as a whole more intriguing.

Maximo Park is intelligent enough to know that accessibility and melody will carry them across more ears than pseudo-artistic distraction. When their cocksure leader snaps “I’ve met so many people who look the same; most were forgotten but you still remain” opening “The Coast is Always Changing”, realization seeps in that even Maximo Park knows that the scenery is littered with the analogous. Unfortunately, their keen observation and fearless admittance sets them apart only half as much as their addictively neurotic debut does.

Maximo Park's Official Website www.maximopark.com
Warp Records www.warprecords.com

Reviewed for Earlash Music Sight