Maxïmo Park - the "Our Earthly Pleasures" era

[jaxxalude]

Gigwise

Maximo Park Reveal Full Album Details
Called 'Our Earthly Pleasures'...

by Scott Colothan on 22/01/2007

Maximo Park are back and have confirmed the full details of their new album.

Titled ‘Our Earthly Pleasures’, the long-player is released through Warp Records on April 2.

The album has been produced by Gil Norton (Pixies, Foo Fighters) will be preceded by the single ‘Our Velocity’ a week earlier on March 19.

The full track-listing is as follows:

Girls Who Play Guitars
Our Velocity
Books From Boxes
Russian Literature
Karaoke Plays
Your Urge
The Unshockable
By The Monument
Nosebleed
A Fortnight’s Time
Sandblasted and Set Free
Parisian Skies

=============================//=========================

I must disclaim right away that I'm far from being a fan of Maxïmo Park, since I only really like one song of theirs, "Apply Some Pressure". But I haven't given up on them just yet. Maybe the fact that one of my favorite record labels ever - Warp - signed them helps towards my benefit-of-the-doubt giving stance...

[oscillations.]

the new video & single leak for Our Velocity is out

[oscillations.]

Sometimes I forget that I not only own their debut, but I own the DELUXE EDITION OF IT.
I haven't listened to it in awhile. And this new song isn't doing a lot for me.
A bit too far a maneuver in the direction of US pop-punk, IMO.

[oscillations.]

PITCHFORK

Maximo Park's Smith Talks Pleasures, Displeasures
"I was listening to [Clipse's Hell Hath No Fury] this morning. I was shouting, 'I don't fear Tubbs and Crockett,' all the way down the street...And I was saying something about being a snowman..."


Maxïmo Park will release their previously reported new album, Our Earthly Pleasures, via Warp on April 2. "Our Velocity" is the album's first single (with a recently Forkcasted video here), and it's due out March 19. Lead singer Paul Smith described the sound of the record in an exclusive interview we did with him in August, but we recently caught up with him to get the scoop on the U.S. release of Our Earthly Pleasures, his opinions of some of his peers, and what he's been listening to lately, including a mutual favorite: Clipse's Hell Hath No Fury.

"I'm pretty sure I'm not revealing any secret information by saying we'll be on Warp again and that [Our Earthly Pleasures] will come out [in the U.S.] around the time [of the UK release], if not on the same day," Smith said. Maxïmo Park also plan to tour the U.S. soon. "I think we'll do one or two tours, depending on if people are interested or not."

Since Maxïmo Park were originally grouped with a whole crop of British bands who recently released sophomore albums (see: Field Music's Tones of Town, Bloc Party's A Weekend in the City, and, slightly less recently, the Futureheads' News & Tributes), Smith also gave us his thoughts on where his band currently stands among their cohorts.

"I know Peter [Brewis] from Field Music quite well, and we were fortunate enough to support Bloc Party and the Futureheads on tour. They're part of our history. Even if I hated them, I'd still be affectionate toward those times, and as it stands I think the unfortunate thing is that we're often lumped in with another section of bands that we don't really have anything in common with, like Kaiser Chiefs or Hard-Fi. Bands like Bloc Party and the Futureheads and Field Music have always tried to reach out for something. [Bloc Party frontman] Kele [Okereke] is always talking about r&b music and stuff that I love, and Field Music don't really care what's cool. They just make records that are totally representative of their tastes, which go in directions not thought of before. And the same could be said of the Futureheads; their first record to me was really exciting. And it made you think about what you're doing. You actually felt challenged by the music, as well as exhilarated.

"When I listen to something like Field Music, I think, 'I want to write a song as good as that,' because I think they're pretty much the best band in Britain. I think they raised the bar. Because I know them, I kind of think, 'Okay, you've done that. Let's see what we can do.' I remember ten years ago, when I was trying to think [of] what concerts I should go to, there were lots of bands in local pubs that looked like Oasis, that had that mod-y haircut, and sometimes it feels like nothing has changed. It just feels like it was always this [way]."

Smith also had loads to say about his recent listening pleasures, which include the Shins' Wincing the Night Away and Joanna Newsom's Ys. "To be honest, I've only listened to [Wincing the Night Away] maybe one time in full, and I've fallen asleep to it a few times just before I go to bed. I need to make a fuller judgment on it, but I love [James Mercer's] vocal melodies, regardless of the production. I'm just listening to it with an open ear, just trying to get that melody. I saw Joanna Newsom the other week with Alasdair Roberts, and I think her record is just-- a lot of people say it's overambitious, and a lot of people say it's brilliant because it's amazing to see somebody this brave in modern music. And while I don't disagree with that, I just enjoy it. Some parts are challenging, and some parts are very simple, to just listen to her voice and be enraptured by it. I've also got the Young Jeezy The Inspiration record, and I like parts of that. I'm always looking for something. That's my problem really: always searching."

Hell Hath No Fury, however, is a tried-and-true recent favorite of Smith's. "I was listening to it this morning. I was shouting, 'I don't fear Tubbs and Crockett,' all the way down the street, much to people's aggravation, I think. I was with my band. And I was saying something about being a snowman; I can't remember."


VIDEO for "Our Velocity":
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWwBkA0GqaY

[jaxxalude]

Well, I actually like the single. I especially rate those cold-wave-like synths flowing through the whole song. And Paul Smith seems to have gained a lot more spunk in his vocal delivery. The one thing that's still there is the fact that their songs still seem to not have discernible hooks at the first few listens. Rather - in the better examples, which are not too many, until now; I have a hope that can change - they insinuate on repeat listens.

[jaxxalude]

Drowned In Sound's Mike Diver gets a kick out of Maxïmo Park's earthly pleasures.

[jaxxalude]

THE INDEPENDENT

First Night: Maximo Park, Northumbria University, Newcastle
Sharp haircut and north-east accent belie a lack of charisma
By Martin James
Published: 21 February 2007

If success can be measured by the number of impersonators present in the audience then Paul Smith, Maximo Park's vocalist, has surely hit the big time. Tonight's crowd for the Newcastle quintet's homecoming bash is awash with the heavy-fringed and severely parted hairstyle that has become Smith's trademark.

Perhaps this level of adulation is of little surprise given that the band's success is very much a celebration of the North-east's growing cultural confidence. Maximo Park count themselves among the flew of bands from the area that have gained notoriety for their no-nonsense, post-punk tunes and defiantly proud North-east accents. Like Wearsiders The Futureheads and Field Music, Maximo Park wear their accents like badges of authenticity.

However, just as Channel Four's Big Brother announcer sounds like a cartoon version of the North-east (he speaks like no Geordie, Mackem or sand dancer ever heard in the area before) so the current collection of North-east bands are in danger of becoming parodies of their hometowns. Or, in other words, their claims to gritty realism are as artificial as their music.

Which doesn't have to be a bad thing. Great pop, from David Bowie to Lily Allen, XTC to Kaiser Chiefs, has long been the spiritual home of the overplayed or hammed-up accent.

Maximo Park is no different. Indeed their strength comes from the fact that they are very much aware of their own theatricality. Witness the combination of the high camp of Paul Smith's style and the bleached white funk punk meets Americana ambience of their songs.

It is the obsession with Americana that came to the fore last night, despite the local voice. Their latest album, Our Earthly Pleasures, plays testament to obsessions with the pre-grunge alternative rock of the US.

So on tracks such as "Our Velocity" they echo Husker Du and the Replacements while Washington DC hardcore outfit Fugazi are never far from the mix. Only the melodies, and, yes, the accent, keeps things grounded in the North-east. Not that Maximo Park have turned to Testosterone Rock. Thankfully they have enough humility to reign in the simplified excess.

Their performance is further phased from the bland by Smith's between-song banter which betrays a sardonic humour that revels in the absurd. Sadly, however, the band fall short of their lofty performance pretensions. Smith's scissor-kicking, legs-akimbo displays of pop-god histrionics lack that all important ingredient - charisma.

And as Smith paces the stage his performance falls sadly into the realms of the local band so, despite the newfound internationalism of their Americanised sound Maximo Park remain a Newcastle band.

[jaxxalude]

LEAKED!

[oscillations.]

Yeah, I got it last week. It's growing on me.

[joker]

Known Pleasures: Maximo Park
by Gary Knox

Page 1
Page 2

With the seemingly endless flow of new bands, the phrase ‘sounds like the new…’ has become almost a stock response when you hear a description of a new act. One band you never hear anyone else being compared to though is Maximo Park - the Newcastle based five-piece, who are set to release their second studio album ‘Our Earthly Pleasures’ this April.

In a time when you fear for the long term future of many second album bands, due to the continued hunt for the next big thing, there is huge pressure to follow the success of Maximo’ Mercury Music Prize nominated debut ‘A Certain Trigger.’ Thankfully though, Paul Smith and co. have responded with an album which will firmly cement their place as one of the biggest names music. Gigwise caught up with charismatic frontman Paul Smith, keyboardist Lukas Wooller and guitarist Duncan Lloyd at Warp’s offices in North London to discuss their impending superstardom and all…

Realistic, keyboard player Lukas Wooller says that the band weren’t always so confident of their success. He tells us: “It’s funny because I haven’t played it to my mates at all because I know they are gonna sit there and go (puffs out his cheeks and shrugs) and I don’t want to sit there with them to see the reaction because it is something you are going to have to give a few times because it is denser and there is more music and more lyrics. It doesn’t give you as much chance to breathe and it’s not catchy in the same way the first album was, it is quite a heavy record but that is what is going to make you want to listen to it again and make you listen to it in five or ten years time as there are a lot of layers.”

However the danger of a second album slating was never really felt outside of their social circle, “I think sometimes when bands have sold a few records you have those considerations where people have said that they want to replicate that success or try to second guess what people want and the record is compromised” says Maximo Park’s hyperactive lead singer Paul Smith. “Even if certain people don’t like it I still feel strongly that there will be a nice ground swell of people that do like it and will always stand by the songs. It’s an excitement that we have at the moment because we just want to get them out there. I’m pretty confident it is better than the first.”

The album is produced by Gil Norton who has worked with Foo Fighters and The Pixies which was one of the reasons behind his choice “I think it reflects our heavier tastes. We are massive Sonic Youth fans and do tend to prefer American guitar bands over British bands” Lukas says with a quiet calmness that belies his manic stage presence. Guitarist Duncan Lloyd adds “We like Fugazi and Smashing Pumpkins and all that. We said before that on the first album you can’t really hear those kind of influences and we wanted to bring that out in this album. Also when you see the band live the sound is bigger than on the record and I suppose we are essentially a live band and wanted to bring that element to the fore. The influence of playing live for a year was really strong.”

Norton also brought a new approach to the way the band looked at the composition of the songs “It is funny cos on some of the songs like ‘The Unshockable’ he got us to change it all” says Duncan. “We were just about to record it then suddenly he said ‘You know what that first arrangement you had, there is nothing wrong with it.’ But sometimes you have to go through that to realise that it works. He put Tom through his paces and made him really analyse the drums more than he had ever done before. You realise after you get that stuff down how important each part is as they gave the songs the power they have. Each part is really important to him which makes it really important to us. We’d think about every single step of what you are doing, so he opened our minds to that. The way he worked with us builds the confidence in the band because in the end you listen back we could notice all the intricate parts he had made us think about.”

Lukas agrees with Duncan here: “You need that kind of thing. It is a totally different process when you are doing a second album where you haven’t been playing the songs live where as for the first album you know the songs back to front by the time you go into the studio. You need that subjective point of view.”

The band feel most comfortable when playing live and the album release coincides with a big European tour which reaches our shores on April 23 in Cardiff - a date they are already looking forward to. “We don’t get to play it very much and get lots of emails from people in Wales saying ‘why don’t you play?” says Duncan. Another stand out slot is Glasgow’s Barrowlands “Last time we played Barrowlands it was one of our best ever shows. It is always good to play Scotland because it when we first started gigging we went up and supported Bloc Party and it was one of the first times we realised that audiences were really into us and the Scottish audiences have always been supportive” he continues. “We are going back to Aberdeen aren’t we? That was the first gig we did as a signed band” reflects Lukas. “Was it the Lemontree? That was a nice venue wasn’t it? It gave us a false impression of life on tour would be. It was like ‘hot meal? This is lovely’, nice dressing rooms, good bands, nice banter and then the reality” Paul remembers.

The tour will leave them nicely primed for festival season. Gigwise tries to get an exclusive announcement of their involvement: “Yeah we are headlining the Pyramid Stage (at Glastonbury). Well it would be nice” jokes Paul. “One day we will be told we are doing something, then the next week we are told we can’t because it clashes with an American date or whatever. We’ve got Primavera Sound pencilled in on the All Tomorrow’s Parties stage” he continues. However these dates are close to their hearts as they get to enjoy the atmosphere “When we did Benicassim we got an extra day or two and sometimes we ask if we can stay in these places. We always make the effort to see the bands we like. At Primavera Sound we got to see Arcade Fire for the first time” adds Duncan.

With the album and tour covered it was time to discuss an issue that has received very little news coverage but for a certain part of the North East of England. It’s a political issue as relevant as any other world affair - the Hartlepool versus the Stockton Parmo debate. “I’ve sampled both of them and remember that they are both of high quality. I think I’ve had too much of the Hartlepool parmo. Tom our drummer was with me, we were djing, and I introduced him to them and I don’t think he could finish his. The rest of the night was a write off after that. There is a mass to the Hartlepool one that may or may not reflect itself in the physiological demographic of the area” is the understandably diplomatic response from Paul given his knowledge of the seriousness of the issue. For those who don’t know and we’re guessing that is nearly everybody, a parmo is a flattened piece of chicken or pork coated in bread crumbs and smothered in Béchamel sauce and served with chips and salad in a 12 inch pizza box and is served around the Middlesbrough area . Having sampled a parmo, Gigwise estimates that consumption of one will add approximately a stone in weight and take off a few months life expectancy.

Another thing that is expected to shorten our life expectancy is if this hack doesn’t get the album sampler of ‘Our Earthly Pleasures’ back to the Gigwise office having been granted permission to take it home prior to this interview. But it’s that good I think I’ll risk life and limb to hang on to it a little longer. Expect the rave reviews to start very shortly as Maximo Park pass the second album test with flying colours.

[jaxxalude]

GIGWISE

Maximo Park – ‘Our Earthly Pleasures’ (Warp)
Released 02/04/07
"In short, this album is a joy..."



by Gary Knox

Maximo Park were last heard headlining a certain tour that also featured the new indie superstars the Artic Monkeys. Due to the hysteria surrounding the Sheffield lads’ inclusion, a near criminal act was witnessed all across the country - scores of dim-witted gig-goers were leaving venues before they even took to the stage. Those who stayed left dumbfounded by the brilliance and energy of the Newcastle five-piece’s live performance, which was perfectly encapsulated in their debut Album ‘A Certain Trigger’.

Changing producers from Paul Epworth to Gil Norton has seen a marked change in their sound. Whilst the output is unmistakably Maximo Park you can feel that every element is included for a reason and through deep consideration which results in a richer and more defining sound. The most noticeable development is the exaggerated use of Lukas Wooller on keyboard, whom it seems dictates the pace and rhythm of the proceedings such as on current single ‘Our Velocity’.

Whilst opener ‘Girls Who Play Guitars’ then ‘Our Velocity’ grow on you immensely after a couple of listens, ‘Books From Boxes’ marks the moment where you sit up and take notice and start to appreciate the simplistic intelligence of Paul Smith’s lyrics. It’s a song that oozes the class that escapes the majority of their contemporaries and does so with such ease that you are reaching for the ‘back’ button as soon as you hear the outro.

When you finally escape the clutches of ‘Boxes From Boxes’ you are thrust straight into ‘Russian Literature’ where again Wooller’s influence is felt more than any song off ‘A Certain Trigger’. It may take a while to get as far a ‘A Fortnight’s Time’ due to all the repeat plays but when you finally get there you hear a song that typifies the difference between Maximo Park and every other indie band out there. Who else sings lyrics like “So would you like to go on a date with me?/ Don’t you know it’s old fashioned to say so?/Five times five equals twenty five/ Don’t you know your times table by now? Ohh ohh ohh oh oh”, without sounding ridiculous? Another hard skill is rhyming hypothetical, alphabetical, theoretical, dialectical without sounding like a total c**t.

In short, this album is a joy. Like Arcade Fire and Kings of Leon with their new long-players, Maximo Park have shown how to keep true to their roots whilst taking their sound on several levels. They are not a band to churn out an album that simply says “here is the next Maximo Park work by numbers.” By the time ‘Parisian Skies’ comes around you are truly saddened that it’s the last track.

[oscillations.]

Our Velocity is going to be a Top 5 hit in the UK next week.
Already Top 30 with downloads.

[joker]

#9 in the UK, congrats on the top 10 smash! I'm loving the song right now... I'll definitely be picking up the album.



Manchester Evening News
Maximo Park: "Our Velocity" (Single Review)




by: Steve Baker

THANKS to two years of solid gigging - it would seem those Maximo mavericks have had a whip round and clubbed together every ounce of energy they possess for this solid firecracker of a single, Our Velocity.

Daubed as ”rock music without the clichés” there is something totally unique to the Maxo sound. Living up to its aptly named title, this is a three-minute nugget fizzing the moment it hits the deck - the sort of stuff all good singles should be made of – furious, catchy and oozing appeal.

With a Northern twang still prevailing, Paul Smith’s lyrics roll off the tongue with a frantic sense of urgency like a six year old trying to list every present he got for Christmas in five seconds flat.

With a rich and meaty production provided by Gil Norton of Pixies and Foo Fighters fame, Our Velocity is the business... thrillingly good.

[oscillations.]

This band is a few degrees to the left of superstardom. Their moment in the sun isn't far away.

[oscillations.]

Girls Who Play Guitars & Russian Literature (aside from the first single) are so addictive! Too bad this shit isn't out til late May or so here.

[oscillations.]

I know.
I download a few tracks & then wait for the rest when I know I will buy it already.
I don't want the element of surprise to become extinct.

[busyboy]

Maxïmo Park
Our Earthly Pleasures
[Warp; 2007]
Rating: 6.3

Slipping into the Paul Epworth-produced post-wave sweepstakes after the Futureheads and Bloc Party, Maxïmo Park were underdogs from the get go. But instead of being spit out by a populace growing bored with gung-ho rhythms and the word "angular," the Newcastle quintet more than held their own with 2005's A Certain Trigger, a burst of treble-rock so taut it made Franz Ferdinand sound Funkadelic. Now, with their competition slumping slightly, there's an opportunity for Maxïmo Park to start setting trends themselves. Did they take advantage? Well...no. Much like their cohorts, the group strives for grander statements with their sophomore album by enlisting a mainstream producer and offering-up more midtempo fare. In comparison, it makes their debut LP come off like a youthful demo. And-- much like their cohorts-- some of the band's winsome scrappiness is lost in transition.

Compressed into a rumbling guitar-rock fastball, A Certain Trigger was marked by Epworth's zoomed-in production. Along with its hairpin songwriting, that record captured a one-take candidness-- you could hear bug-eyed lead singer Paul Smith deliberately inhale before rattling off a manic melody at the top of "Now I'm All Over the Shop". Our Earthly Pleasures' sound is more calculating and broad-- and it clashes with the band's spitfire inclinations.

A catalyst behind this change is producer Gil Norton, who worked the boards on the Pixies' 1989 classic Doolittle and, more recently, eponymous albums from Ben Kweller and Morningwood. Although Smith claims, "The gaps between words are the things that really intrigue me/ It's the gasps and the sighs that say more about what's inside you," on opener "Girls Who Play Guitars," such incidental sonic perks are largely excised in favor of a more commercial, gap-less sheen. Whereas lesser tracks on A Certain Trigger were rendered passable partially thanks to Epworth's condensed attack, Our Earth Pleasures duds like "Your Urge" (which introduces itself with Billy Joel-style piano flourishes) and normalized modern rocker "Sandblasted and Set Free" are done-in by the record's spic-and-span treatment. Even when the new style seems to work, as on the Devo-meets-Nirvana first single "Our Velocity", recent live versions of the song-- including one on "Top of the Pops"-- blow away the recorded take. Questionable studio decisions aside, Maxïmo Park have at least one distinct advantage over their Brit brethren: the desperate intensity of howler Paul Smith.

His guileless Geordie accent intact, Smith may be the most likeable frontman among his immediate contemporaries (sorry, Kele). He's traded-in the signature comb-over for a sharp bowler hat, but the spastic singer is still neurotically consumed by unfulfilling relationships. On early single "Apply More Pressure", he sang, "I hope that I will live to see you undress," to a potential partner. But now that he's seen her naked, it seems, she's gone away.

From the ominous unpacking tale "Books From Boxes" ("You have to leave, I appreciate that/ But I hate when conversation slips out of our grasp") to the anxious aftermath of "By the Monument" ("Posterity has hold of us now/ Am I just waiting for the next chapter?") to the Before Sunset nostalgia of "Parisian Skies" ("I don't think she knew how much I loved her"), Smith chronicles a particularly harsh long-distance split in a style that's part Stipe-ian oblique and part emo confessional. He's prone to the occasional distracting Word of the Day ("I wonder how we tessellate/ It would have been much wiser to allow these feelings to abate," he enunciates on "Your Urge") and his flashes of Cocker-style wit come too few and far between, but the singer finds an affecting comfort zone somewhere between sentimental and nonsensical. And while the optimistic stand-out "A Fortnight's Time" veers from Pleasures' sad script, the hook is a winning example of Smith's quirky expertise: "Would you like to go on a date with me?/ And I know it's old-fashioned to say so/ Five time five equals twenty-five/ Don't you know your times tables by now?" (He may or may not be hitting on a third grader.)

One of the greatest legacies of the original post-punk-meets-new-wave bands were their stylistic diversity; groups like XTC, Talking Heads, and Devo were not only distinct from each other, but they thrived on pushing their respective sounds into unpredictable territory. So the fact that the era's apparent ancestors are largely repeating themselves or evolving in the same traditionally commercial, "serious" direction is slightly disheartening. Maxïmo Park's first album featured a hazy, spoken-word anomaly called "Acrobat" that sounded like nothing else on the LP. The song was ballsy and beautiful, and it hinted at an untapped adventurousness. There's nothing like "Acrobat" on Our Earthly Pleasures. With their new album, Maxïmo Park avoid both utter disaster and absolute success by playing it safe. Nice and safe.

-Ryan Dombal, April 04, 2007

www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/42063-our-earthly-pleasures

-----------------------------------------------------------------
I loved their debut, I loved their lost songs. This new one is harder for me to get into, but I will be satisfied!

[oscillations.]

#2 UK debut! OV still Top 30!

Hopefully they will send OV to US Alt. radio.
Even if they aren't, I'm going to pretend they are!

[busyboy]

Maximo Park - 'Our Earthly Pleasures'

Released on 02/04/07
Label: Warp

With a charismatic lead singer - part Morrissey, part Jarvis - and crowd-friendly tunes like "Apply Some Pressure" and "Graffiti", it was all going so well for Maximo Park. Along with The Futureheads and Bloc Party, and any number of Paul Epworth-produced bands, they threatened to turn Club Indie into one spiky, angular post-punk guitarfest - in addition to offering welcome relief to the shambling narcoromanticism of The Libertines and their tribly-attired ilk.

Only then that pesky band from Sheffield imploded with their potent Streets and Doherty mix and everything changed. Post-Monkeys, all the above are now in the unenviable position of reinventing themselves, and with varying degrees of success: Futureheads released a swift and workmanlike second album and lost a major label deal in the process; Kele Okereke's mob, despite an apparent humour bypass, appeared to have fared a little better - although the jury is out as to whether the hype is justified.

An initial listen to "Our Earthly Pleasures" and it seems Maximo Park have undergone the most radical transformation of all - abandoning the killer choruses and memorable hooks that won them acclaim, and transforming themselves into an indecipherable dirge. Lead single "Our Velocity" apart, which is basically "Apply Some Pressure Redux", the remainder flurries by in an indistinct whirl. It sounds "indie" with all the grey Wedding Present-like trappings and connotations of that word. At times it sounds like - oh, the horror - Inspiral Carpets.

Yet, stick with it, and about four spins in, the album reveals itself. The nagging keyboard that underpins too many of these songs seems to subside and allow them - and, more pertinently, the lyrics - a chance to breathe. The tunes are still AWOL, but the jangly winsomeness of "Books From Boxes" and "The Unshockable" are suddenly quite tempting. And most of all, Paul Smith steps out from the shadows - his tales of lover's woe hitting home. A phrase here and a phrase there, and it comes together like an oblique jigsaw.

Apparently wounded by Cupid's arrow, the ballads especially cut home. "Your Urge" and "Sandblasted & Set Free" are suitably stately in the face of emotional adversity, while closer "Parisian Skies" finds him bruised and battered over the Channel. "Is it the thrill of the chase, how can I keep up the pace?...I don't think she knew just how much I loved her". Such heart on sleeve romanticism is unlikely to win mass appeal, but Smith remains the band's trump card and Achilles heal - a gifted bed-sit poet, but one destined only to be appreciated by a select few.

by Adam Webb
Rating: 8/10

uk.launch.yahoo.com/070410/33/217dl.html

[oscillations.]

3.5 stars from Rolling Stone. I can't wait 'til May. I'm anticipating this release way more than I thought I would. I'd like to see them live in July, as well.

[busyboy]

Out today in the US!

[joker]

Video - "Books From Boxes"

[joker]

Maximo Park Walk 500 Miles on New Single, Tour

Some bands moan about time on the road, but as they while away the hours on the tour bus-- priming for their nightly onstage herky-jerk-- the fellas of Maxïmo Park must be diggin' their extended vacay. Their already substantial tour just engorged itself further with a string of early October dates in their native England, bringing the grand total of times a person with no credit limit and a penchant for getting busy could conceivably catch Maxïmo in action to, like, a billion.

In other Maxïmo news, they'll issue a single for Our Earthly Pleasures track "Books From Boxes" June 11 in their homeland on Warp. "Books" comes on white or blue 7", CD, or download, and spread over its many incarnations are a few new songs and a take on the Proclaimers' "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" on Jo Whiley's BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge program.

"Books From Boxes":

CD:
01 Books From Boxes (radio edit)
02 I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) (from Jo Whiley's Live Lounge)
03 The Unshockable (demo)

7" (White Vinyl):
A: Books From Boxes
B: Obstinate Ideas

7" (Blue Vinyl):
A: Books From Boxes (demo)
B: Don McPhee

Digital Exclusive 1 (record store bundle only):
01 Books From Boxes (acoustic version)

Digital Exclusive 2 (record store bundle only):
02 Books From Boxes (live in Amsterdam)

Maxïmo dates:

05-25 Hannover, Germany - Capitol
05-26 Cologne, Germany - Live Music Hall
05-27 Limburg, Germany - Pinkpop Festiavl
05-28 Newcastle, England - Evolution Festival
05-30 Toulouse, France - Bikini
06-01 Barcelona, Spain - Primavera Sound Festival
06-02 Nurnberg, Germany - Rock Im Park
06-03 Adenau, Germany - Rock Am Ring
06-05 Toucoing, France - Le Grand Mix
06-06 Nantes, France - Olympic
06-07 Bordeaux, France - BT 59
06-08 Paris, France - Le Bataclan
06-16 Marburg, Germany - MTV Campus Invasion
06-29 St. Gallen, Switzerland - Open Air Festival
06-30 Belfort, France - Belfort Festival
07-01 Rotselaar, Belgium - Rock Werchter Festival
07-04 Lisbon, Portugal - Superbock Super Rock
07-06 Evreux, France - Evreux Festival
07-07 Dublin, Ireland - Oxegen Festival
07-08 Kinross, Scotland - T in the Park
07-11 Boston, MA - Great Scott
07-12 New York, NY - Webster Hall
07-13 Montreal, Quebec - La Tulipe
07-14 Toronto, Ontario - Mod Club
07-16 Chicago, IL - Double Door
07-17 Minneapolis, MN - Varsity Theatre
07-19 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
07-20 Salt Lake City, UT - Club Sound
07-22 Seattle, WA - Chop Suey
07-23 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard's on Richards
07-24 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
07-26 San Francisco, CA - Popscene
07-27 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theatre
07-28 San Diego, CA - Casbah
08-11 Tokyo, Japan - Summersonic Festival
08-12 Osaka, Japan - Summersonic Festival
08-14 Brisbane, Australia - The Zoo
08-15 Sydney, Australia - Metro
08-17 Melbourne, Australia - Prince of Wales
08-18 Adelaide, Australia - Fowlers
08-19 Perth, Australia - Capitol
08-24 Reading, England - Reading Festival
08-25 Leeds, England - Leeds Festival
09-02 Bologna, Italy - Idays Festival
10-02 Glasgow, Scotland - Barrowlands *$
10-03 Dundee, Scotland - Caird Hall *$
10-05 Doncaster, England - Dome *$
10-06 Manchester, England - Apollo *$
10-07 Cambridge, England - Corn Exchange ^$
10-08 Portsmouth, England - Guildhall ^$
10-10 Wolverhampton, England - Civic Hall ^$
10-11 London, England - Brixton Academy ^$
10-12 London, England - Brixton Academy $
10-16 Cologne, Germany - E-Werk
10-17 Hamburg, Germany - GF 36
10-19 Berlin, Germany - Columbiahalle
10-21 Dresden, Germany - Schlachthof
10-22 Wiesbaden, Germany - Schlachthof
10-23 Stuttgart, Germany - Longhorn
10-24 Munich, Germany - Tonhalle
10-26 Vienna, Austria - Gasometer
10-27 Fribourg, Switzerland - Fri-son
12-15 Newcastle, England - Metro Radio Arena $

* with Blood Red Shoes
$ with Good Shoes
^ with Theoretical Girl

[busyboy]

"Books From Boxes" debuts (and peaks, since it's been physically released already) at #35 in the UK.