Written
30th January 2014
Maxïmo Park – Too Much Information
The Band: Paul Smith
(lead vocals), Duncan Lloyd (guitars/backing vocals), Archis Tiku (bass), Lukas
Wooller (keys/synths/backing vocals) Tom English (drums)
What
initially started out as a trip to the studio to record a new EP turned out to
be much more successful than first planned and has seen Newcastle descendants
and Indie and Electro pop-pickers Maxïmo Park instead return with this ‘Too
Much Information’, their full-blown fifth studio album. The follow-up to the band’s successful fourth
record ‘The National Health’ (previously reviewed in Flynndie Reviews #26 here
with an in-depth profile of the band), an album which in itself saw Maxïmo Park
pushing their musical boundaries; furthering their sound as just simply as
rocky guitar band and packing in a great range of tracks, from piano ballads and
fuzzy, electro-rock (‘Hips and Lips’), to some tender acoustic ballads (‘The
Undercurrents’, and ‘Unfamiliar Places’) and of course the more traditional up-tempo,
guitar-rock tracks the band are noted for from their earlier albums ‘A Certain
Trigger’ and ‘Our Earthly Pleasures’. So
with a diverse and interesting range of back-catalogue tracks and albums
already in their locker, how does fifth record ‘Too Much Information’ shape up
for t’Park?
Too
Much Information
1. Give, Get, Take
2. Brain Cells3. Leave This Island
4. Lydia, The Ink Will Never Dry
5. My Bloody Mind
6. Is It True?
7. Drinking Martinis
8. I Recognise The Light
9. Midnight On The Hill
10. Her Name Was Audre
11. Where We’re going
With
twinkling synthesizers ‘Give, Get, Take’ gets us up and running before being
fully backed by up-tempo percussion and further synth-sounding guitars, the
chorus ringing through “You give a little…You
get a little…You take a little more”.
It’s a bright up-beat track and hints at the electronic, synth-based
direction the band take more with this record.
Second track ‘Brain Cells’ was previously the first comeback track
released from the album and for me was a completely different and unexpected
sound from the band, again very electronic with a synth-driven beat chipping
away at it but much more slower and deliberate than that of the previous
opening track; it’s quite lo-fi and understated and has a dark, mysterious
chorus “Didn’t learn anything today/If I
didn’t know my brain cells wear away”.
This is a much more different track than anything the band has done
previously yet is still strange, fascinating and compelling none the less, with
an isolated dance-vibe about it. ‘Leave
this Island’ is the first full single to be lifted from the album and continues
the keyboard and synth-driven direction of the record so far with another shy
but sparkling, synth rhythm running through its veins with light backing
guitars. It’s another deep,
thought-provoking track full of mystery “Let
me know when you want to leave this island/I’ll stand up for you”.
With
a delightful track-title ‘Lydia, the Ink Will Never Dry’ sees the first real guitar-driven
track of the record so far, riding along with a very jangly, Smiths-like guitar
at its heart while also reminding me of the band’s excellent past single ‘Books
from Boxes’. This is a much more
familiar Maxïmo track and perhaps the most instant song on the album so far. Up next ‘My Bloody Mind’ is the heaviest guitar
track so far on the record, still backed with flirting synthesizers and a
gritty, western like guitar rhythm and bass melody at its core, before a slight
pause and some random spoken-vocals from Paul “A random phrase/Is as good any”.
It’s quite a charmer of a track and another more instant track on the
record at this point. An oriental
sounding gong marks near the midway point through ‘Too Much Information’ and
opens sixth-track ‘Is It True?’, initially a bass-driven track by Archis, while
Duncan teases with shimmering guitar effects and Lukas’ keyboards give the
track an extra dimension and a much fuller-feel; its a soft, seductive track, think along the lines of 80’s
classic ‘Tainted Love’ by Soft Cell but perhaps more poignant and with a
slightly, darker underlying melody to it and you get an idea of the sound here. ‘Drinking Martinis’ leans towards another
guitar and percussion-driven track but this time soft and soulful “You were drinking Martinis in-front of
me/But now that you’re gone/Do you feel anything?” This is somewhat a playful, gentle ballad
thrown into the mix midway through the record.
‘I Recognise the Light’ starts off with quirky, upbeat and urgent duelling drums and
guitars which form the basis for the track; it’s a catchy, swaggering track
which defines its own rules and moves to its own beat of its drum “I never been to Mexico City but I recognise
the lights/I’ve never been to Santiago but it keeps me up at night”.
With
driving drums and a playful guitar riff ‘Midnight on the Hill’, is another
confident, assured number from the band, with a steady and calm rhythm to it
and is a track that seems to effortlessly chug along nicely at this stage of
the album. Meanwhile ‘Her Name Was
Audre’ opens with a drum-solo and quickly becomes more of a familiar, fast and
upbeat Maxïmo Park guitar track with its chorus finding Paul fascinated with
the track-title’s protagonist “Her name
was Audre and she had a lot to say/She didn’t bore me with her consummate
display” while the second-half of the track sees a playful bass riff and
some quite quirky keyboard and synth sounds before closing with a twist: slowly
unwinding and then closing with an almost circus-like drum-roll from Tom, quite
a different sound to the rest of the song.
Closing track ‘Where we’re Going’ is another guitar based track but with
a much more mellow melody to it featuring some more cryptic lines from Paul “What’s appropriate in the circumstance? It’s
in the sub-text/What’s appropriate in the circumstance? It’s in the sub-text.”
So
overall ‘Too Much Information’ had been a somewhat of a rollercoaster ride with
plenty of thrills, spills and surprises along the way. For me this is possibly the most challenging
Maxïmo Park album to-date; more heavily influenced by their electronic, synth
side than any of their previous albums yet still a highly enjoyable record with
plenty of tracks you will find yourself humming along and dancing to (or
perhaps that was just me!) Paul’s lyrics
are often witty, cryptic and entertaining as always and again proves the case on
‘Too Much Information’, while Duncan and Archis remain on top of their game
creating some memorable guitar riffs and bass melodies but perhaps Lukas has
the last hurrah with many synth and keyboard driven tracks seemingly being the
main focus of this album.
‘Too
Much Information’ certainly has plenty of ‘information’ going on within each
track on this record and the album as a whole feels that plenty of time should
be given to listen to it and to carefully nurture its tracks to fully
appreciate them. This LP is packed full
of charm and delights with a few surprises along the way and a grower with
repeated listens and I’m finding myself awarding this one 8 Brain Cells out of
10 for Maxïmo Park. Also check out the
Deluxe edition of the album to find a bonus CD with 5 additional tracks, covers
by the band of some of their influences that have more than likely helped
defined the direction of ‘Too Much Information’.
Drinking
Martinis
Flynny
Track
2 ‘Brain Cells’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfQbpunQ2WI
Track
3 ‘Leave This Island’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJK82x8wkxA
Track
4 ‘Lydia, the Ink Will Never Dry’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P3SWta0-xw Band website:
http://maximopark.com/
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