Maximo Park - A Certain Trigger Review
by Eric Bodrero
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"Everything old is new again" is the one phrase that shoots through my mind every time I hear a band like this, which is usually followed by a nostalgic trip down memory lane, complete with quick rampages through early 80's back-alleys with bands like Devo, Missing Persons, Joy Division, and a whole slew of others too numerous to mention here. Whatever your view of the recent onslaught of new wave euro-pop being introduced in spades to the world at the moment, Maximo Park has unquestionably gone out of their way to bitch-slap the music industry, and in doing so have left a permanent mark in the rambunctious and youthful A Certain Trigger.
This Newcastle quintet has taken a peculiar approach to their songwriting, explaining the pains and challenges of growing up and feeling trapped in a small town, and lead vocalist Paul Smith lets us all know about it with his untamed British accent, which adds a certain flavor to this album that would not be there otherwise. The songs are quick, catchy, straightforward and highly contagious, complete with beds of synth and high-energy percussion with even higher energy vocal romps. Once these tracks get into the gooey part of your brain, they are burned there forever, and I have found nary a remedy of getting rid of them.
This is fine with me. Getting a Britney Spears song stuck in your head for the rest of the day as a result of running into Taco Bell for a quick Chalupa and Mountain Dew; now that's painful. This is more therapeutic in nature, since the songs are so fun.
Maximo Park isn't just another new-wave wannabe from the U.K; they actually get it right. With this kind of start to their fairly short career, they should go far. This is surely for any fan of new-wave post punk the likes of The Futureheads, The Bravery, Bloc Party, The Killers, Franz Ferdinand and The Capes, and for everybody else who's attention span can only accommodate thirteen tracks in about thirty-nine minutes.
CD Info and Links
Maximo Park - A Certain Trigger Label:Warp
Rating:
Track Listing:
1. Signal And Sign
2. Apply Some Pressure
3. Graffiti
4. Postcard Of A Painting
5. Going Missing
6. I Want You To Stay
7. Limassol
8. Coasts Is Always Changing, The
9. Night I Lost My Head, The
10. Once, A Glimpse
11. Now I'm All Over The Shop
12. Acrobat
13. Kiss You Better
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