Maxïmo Park
A Certain Trigger

THE REVIEW

The latest installment of the indie-rock series the next big thing is titled Maximo Park. The cast is the usual: five guys drawn from the club sound of Newcastle, slicked, sent to their trusted tailor, and idolized by that bunch of pseudo-alternative magazines that have been the pride of the English since the dawn of time. I confess that this new, cumbersome, exaggerated wave of bands from the "land of Albion" is taking on unexpected proportions to the point that, copy today and copy tomorrow, something good had to come out eventually. I would say it is wrong to talk about clones (not because they're not), but about a movement that, although rich in nuances and not without strong inconsistencies, is elbowing its way to carve out a defined and separate space for itself, just as happened about a decade ago with the brit-pop saga.

But let's get back to our guys and the work in question. It's to be appreciated because in a thirty-minute album, the maximum that a genre like this can sustain without getting heavy, there's room for all those ingredients that help start the day on the right foot (this is not an ad for some snack).
There's the rock, which is rock worlds apart from the old sex & drug style, there's the pop, which, excluding metal, is put everywhere these days, and there's the punk, which has now become a gentle little punk that is fashionable, the opposite of the grime and screams so dear to Sid and friends.
Despite generally breathing an intense and widespread air of revival, music has changed, is changing, and will change again, we just have to acknowledge it.
Among the ten tracks of the playlist, "Apply For Some Pressure", "The Night I Lost My Head", and "The Coast Is Always Changing" stand out as the most listenable, probably the best of the bunch. Musically, the tracks are built on the usual framework of four-fourths drum with guitars in backbeat, without heavy garnishes or overly intrusive electronics.

Ideal for easing the morning traffic or enlivening the wake-up and honoring the sacredness of the cappuccino and brioche ritual. In short, an admirable record this A Certain Trigger.