Flynndie Reviews: #43 Maxïmo Park - Too Much Information

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 Cells
3. 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/

       

Flynndie Reviews - Blog #26: Maxïmo Park - The National Health

Written 11^th June 2012

Maxïmo Park – The National Health

The Band: Paul Smith (vocals), Duncan Lloyd (guitar/backing vocals), Archis Tiku (bass), Lukas Wooller (keyboards/backing vocals), Tom English (drums)

So today sees the return of one of my favourite bands, Maxïmo Park with their 4^th album ‘The National Health’.  The band arrived on the Indie scene back around 2005 with the release of their debut album ‘A Certain Trigger’, which for me is a true Indie classic and genuinely one of my favourite albums of the past decade with classic tracks ‘Apply Some Pressure’, ‘Graffiti’, ‘Going Missing’ and ‘The Coast is always Changing’, I’ve listened to the album more than I could ever remember and still enjoy it to this day and would always recommend to check it out.  The band then followed up this great debut record with the more mature sounding but still high-tempo, solid albums ‘Our Earthly Pleasures’ in 2007 and then subsequently in 2009 their 3^rd album ‘Quicken the Heart’, another great two albums under the band’s repertoire and thus establishing themselves as a firm favourite with Indie Kids across the Nation, which brings us nicely to today’s review subject ‘The National Health’.

The Waiting List

1.   When I was Wild
2.   The National Health
3.   Hips and Lips
4.   The Undercurrents
5.   Write this Down
6.   Reluctant Love
7.   Until the Earth would open
8.   Banlieue
9.   This is what becomes of the Brokenhearted
10. Wolf among Men
11. Take me Home
12. Unfamiliar Places
13. Waves of Fear

So, with the band’s reputation for frantic, fast-paced and fun guitar records, things get underway on ‘The National Health’ with opening track ‘When I was Wild’……a minute’s long piano-ballad! Ha! This was somewhat of a surprise for me when initially listening to the album but actually I think this sets the tone nicely for the record as a whole, with Paul’s delicate tones complimenting Lukas’ sweet piano piece nicely, before the much more familiar, upbeat, frantic tempo of ‘The National Health’ comes crashing into the record.  This is distinctly recognisable Maxïmo Park territory here, and the band’s first-ever title-track, with Duncan’s guitar riff achieving 0-60mph within a split-second of the song opening and dueling for supremacy on the track with keys from Lukas and bass from Archis, all why Paul’s lyrics literally “Paint a portrait, of the National Health” here.  3^rd track and previous single ‘Hips and Lips’ again, like opening track ‘When I was Wild’, shows that on this record in particular, the band have made more of an attempt to expand the boundaries of their sound somewhat more than they have done on their previous records, with an altogether different sounding track than those of their past, with a track that slowly, builds and burns at the listener with it’s quite electronic, almost techno sounding vibes buzzing through it.  The synth’s like sound to this track give it a more of a darker, somewhat sinister feel for a Maxïmo Park track but it’s a sound I quite like and I love the video for it featuring a certain young Thomas Turgoose, also recognisable as Shaun from the film and TV series ‘This Is England’ which you can watch at the bottom of this review.

‘The Undercurrents’ follows and this for me is a real standout track by the band and really shows a much more mature sounding track from them, with gentle flowing guitars and keys, before a quite distinct bass carries the opening of the track, as Paul’s lyrics create the picture of a couple’s relationship under the strain of busy lifestyles with lyrics “We both have a lot on our plates” and “Somehow the work was worth the wait“ indicating a hint at “The Undercurrents” that forms the track’s title.  With another distinctly synth feel to it, ‘Write this Down’ is next and is back on the more familiar Maxïmo Park track with verses that flow along nicely, before the big sounding, sing-along chorus the band are highly recognised for in the past.  ‘Reluctant Love’ follows and wow, this track really has a charm of its own!  Showing the softer side of the band, as the gentle guitar and bass and rhythm of the track takes the listener by the hand and out for a romantic date, it’s no secret that this is another track that focuses on a couple’s relationship, but such is the smoothness of the track it’s hard to but anything, fall for it’s somewhat romantic charm.  Things get a bit more up-tempo again with ‘Until the Earth would open’.  This is another easy-flowing track for the listener and again has somewhat of a cheeky little charm about itself, with an incredible catchy guitar riff and rhythm pulsating through it before the catchy chorus hooks the listener.

However, after the cheeky charm of the last two tracks ‘Banlieue’ again hints at a slightly darker, menacing sound for the band with its jagged guitar riff throughout it and distant effect used on Paul’s vocals during its verses.  Here we have a track that sees the band getting a little more psychedelic, again what I would consider some newfound territory for a Maxïmo Park track but again another sound the band seems to pull off effortlessly.  ‘This is what becomes of the Brokenhearted’ sees the fully-fledged piano ballad on the album that the band hinted at earlier with their opening-track that again is not subtle in its attempts to woo and charm the pants of the listener, which it succeeds to do with the great care and attention that has clearly gone into this track.  ‘Wolf among Men’ gets us all up and rocking again, with guitar and synths swirling around each other and pulling the listener along for the ride, it has such a carefree sound about it, you can’t help but smile and dance like-a-loon while listening to it (or maybe that was just me then!)

Upon hearing 10^th track ‘Take me Home’, I initially felt this track had somewhat of a ‘Wild West’ vibe to it but clearly we’re talking in a good manner here.  The piano’s and guitar in particular on this track remind me somewhat of the type of sound R.E.M. were creating on their 1991 album ‘Out of Time’ and I can’t help but picture the band taking over the Grand Piano in a saloon bar and having a good-old fashioned hoedown with this track.  What follows next is quite simply an outstanding track with ‘Unfamiliar Places’.  Just a good old-fashioned stripped-down acoustic track, with both the most softly sung vocals and guitar on the album, this is the perfect track to listen to alone as the rain beats down hard on a window pane, it’s without question the most emotional track on the album and possibly Maxïmo Park’s most tender track to-date, it really pulls at the heart-strings of the listener.  Closing track ‘Waves of Fear’ leaves the album finishing in a trademark Maxïmo Park fun, frolicking rock-out as was always very much the case with previous albums and as so remains the case here.  With fast paced guitar and frantic keys towards the closing of the track it ensures the album closes on another high.

So overall, this 4^th album ‘The National Health’ sees Maxïmo Park remain at the top of the game and if anything, their 3-year break since their last album ‘Quicken the Heart’ in 2009, I think the group have even evolved more since then and this album as a collective whole really shows the band at the height of their song-writing ability since their debut album ‘A Certain Trigger’ in my opinion.  However, this record is very much a different kind of animal to their debut album and their more recent past two records, with the band really pushing at the peak of their musical prism.  I honestly think you would be quite hard pushed to find many bands that pack quite a range of different sounding guitar tracks into a 40-minute record, with what comes across after listening, as somewhat at an ease to them.  There is a lot to take in on this record, providing a depth that I’m hoping will see me listening to it for quite a while to come yet.  I’m going to award this record 9 Stethoscopes out of 10 here as I’m already impressed by this album after my first few initial listens and am already now counting down the days until I go and see the band play at the Shepherds Bush Empire later this November.

On the NHS

Flynny

Track 3 ‘Hips and Lips’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d910sRZgs0

Track 4 ‘The Undercurrents’ (acoustic) – Mahogany Session

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uskBv8lusnU

Track 6 ‘Reluctant Love’ (acoustic) – Mahogany Session

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCS4GwP8Cpc