A Certain Trigger
Label: Warp
Rated: NONE
WorkNameSort: Certain Trigger, A
“Apply Some Pressure” is how you’ve heard of Maximo Park, if you’ve heard of Maximo Park at all. The song is that odd confection known as “the perfect single”; it’s as catchy and uniquely memorable as it is perfectly representative of today’s sonic zeitgeist. Wiry, propulsive and keyboard-driven, A Certain Trigger doesn’t vary much from the winning formula of “Pressure,” and that’s just fine. There’s a big difference between being trendy and being fashionable, and Maximo Park is definitely the latter a group far more concerned with shoehorning their unique sound into the current musical dialogue. You can hear Hot Hot Heat and The Killers, but you can also hear The Alarm crossed with Gang of Four, The Fall fronted by Tom Jones or any other number of U.K.-centric musical cues that make them sound unlike any of the bands they’re sure to be compared to. To that end, Maximo Park deserves their spot on the respected roster of Warp; it’s no crime to make a pop record, especially when you take care not to make a boring pop record.
This article appears in Jun 1-7, 2005.