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maxÏmo park - a certain trigger

 

new artful indie hopes release their debut on the bleep and bloop sheffield based label, warp. has the world gone mad ?

well not really. in recent times the label has taken on a whole range of new styles and sounds making it still one of the most interesting uk record labels (eg !!!, chok rock, jamie liddel) . with maximo park though, this is a real shift in direction for the warp die hards to become accustomed to. maximo park are a very now band. nme sanctioned, hyped to the max, and not a bleep in sight. instead, the albums starts off with some sharp guitar lick and synth action like a classic lost devo b-side before the real action kicks in. strutting their new wave angular songs the band add lashings of organ riffs making it difficult to reject the ghostly reappearance of inspiral carpets. also, the fact that the lead singer, paul smith, has the most enhanced northern accent ever committed to tape just adds more to the fun.

being honest, it all hinges on the vocals. after my first spin of the album i shot off an email to the bands pr advising i was not going to enjoy this album with that voice, oh how wrong was ! the musical backing is fairly rock solid mash of wedding present guitars, a hint of f-punk and the odd enhanced synth based colour. but on top of the bands noise is paul smith's tales of normal life up north. the lyrics are shot out in such a manner that it's hard to ignore. they are funny, direct, honest. and never short of excellent, making me hamper for my original homeland - the north of england.

therefore by spin number 4 the classics are becoming standards of the modern world - 'apply some pressure', 'graffiti', 'postcard of a painting',  'going missing' will all become firm live favourites on the forthcoming festival season, uptempo, catchy, delivered with a innocent zeal and natural confidence that is refreshing and startling for a debut.

could it be that world domination is the bands destiny ? quite possibly.

good job lads. you won me over.

as paul declares on graffiti - 'that's enufffff'

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