Maximo Park - Our Earthly Pleasures

2005 was a great year for British music, with several young and energetic acts releasing critically and commercially successful albums, since then some fell by the wayside and some became huge, whilst others remained at a constant level of success and musical ability. The latter applies for Maximo Park; they never quite enjoyed the massive success of bands such as The Kaiser Chiefs or Bloc Party, but have also so far escaped the constant criticisms and monitoring of their material or the trappings and traps of celebrity lifestyle. The band has remained consistent, slowly developing, bettering themselves and gaining experience, ‘Our Earthly pleasures’ is the culmination of the past few years of beavering away. There is no massive change in direction, fairly bare and sparse arrangements consisting of guitar, keyboards, bass, drums and vocals take us through an album that explores life, in all it’s grime and all it’s glory, tales of woe, tales of excess and tales of the world, all dealt with in a down to earth manner with little pretension or attitude. The album sparkles, clear and crunchy with pots of punch, dancibility, whistle ready tunes and lyrics to be sung at high volume on Friday nightclub floors. It’s not the departure or massive development that the band likes to say it is, but a damn fine album that sets Maximo Park ahead of their competitors.

Published in www.rockus.com.au