MAXIMO PARK were a regular feature on W&H circa 2005 when the whole angular, Post-Punk revival thing was still seething with activity and bothering the charts. They were good at it and their sales figures spoke for themselves, even if – to these ears – they sounded pretty derivative.
Thus, your reviewer had ignored MP'S progress since their much-vaunted debut 'A Certain Trigger'. Their second album passed him by entirely and now their new single 'Questing, Not Coasting' comes on the back of quite a buzz surrounding their recent third LP, 'Quicken The Heart'. It's a good title, but at the time of writing, that's all I know about it.
Still, 'Questing, Not Coasting' is a good time to shrug the blinkers off. It's a much stronger and far more charismatic return than I'd expected from the Newcastle boys. Nick Launay's production is powerful, the song's lusher and more thoughtful than I remember them being capable of before and the thickness of Paul Smith's Geordie vocals (“I knaa yor faayce!”) only adds to the attraction. Indeed, when you notice the devil in the details (like the way Smith implores “I need to connect to you now!” just before the band bring on that aching chorus) then you know they're pushing the right buttons.
|
I'd like to be sure that there's more of this calibre in the wings before I commit wholeheartedly, but 'Questing, Not Coasting' is a far more impressive return than I'd expected. Great. It's nice to have preconceptions blown to buggery at the best of times.
|
