Maxïmo Park

Item: A Certain Trigger
Author: Jonathan Sabutis

A Certain Trigger

(2005)

Reviewed by Jonathan Sabutis

Discogs Bandcamp Apple Music TIDAL Amazon Music Spotify YouTube Music

Label Warp RecordsDecapolisJune 2005

indie rock post-punk

Look sharp mate! Maximo Park has arrived bearing gifts of classy, post punk influenced, gems. It's a peculiar thing how you actually feel like you should be wearing suit and tie like the fellow on the albums cover, while dancing like a wild man to their urgent accelerations and smart cadences. When a band gives a performance this sharp you almost feel respectfully embarrassed of your sweat pants and unkempt hair. Franz and the Futureheads BE forewarned. Maximo Park will steal your fans.

The Apply Some Pressure EP gave listeners a small but delicious appetizer, and Maximo Park certainly capitalizes on the anticipation it created with the release of their full length, A Certain Trigger. The cautious scruples ("Oh no, not another one of these bands I thought this wave had passed") created by the first time listen will quickly be dispelled as the complexities of sound and rhythm are realized and then appreciated.
Unlike many of his genre contemporaries, singer Paul Smith leaves the whining to the guitars and leads with a warm, heavily accented voice. His words are honest and true poetry. Backing vocals are a great addition; they enhance Smith but are careful not to overwhelm. The bouncing synth shines especially on the opening track "Signal and Sign" and "Limassol." Synchronized drum and guitar sections are an interesting addition, accomplishing several successful pauses and intros.

While individual instruments each deserve praise of their own, probably the most successful characteristic of Maximo Park is their ability to diversify every song with different but congruent tunes. "Apply Some Pressure" proves to be an unbelievable catchy pop conception that pulses with attitude and polished progressions. Instead of carrying the initial melody into the rest of the song, they go the extra mile using three completely different ones that blend inconspicuously. On "Fear of Falling" the band kicks over a monitor and dives into a fun, surf-rock interlude building creatively into the final chorus. Matching several different melodies to complement each other in the same song is surely no easy task. A Certain Trigger seems to achieve this effortlessly.

Producer Paul Epworth (Bloc Party, The Streets) has once again struck gold in his work with these north England natives. Each track on this album is a shot of pure energy and will continue to cause perfectly sane business men to break out into arm swinging jungle dance moves at work.