When my boredom with indie rock reached critical mass several years ago and I changed my live listening habits to nearly exclusively heavy rock and metal, I retained a soft spot for UK indie guitar pop. While most indie bands, no matter how highly acclaimed, usually bore me to tears, I’ve remained a true blue fan of a handful of British acts that have putting out pretty consistently great albums. Contrary to popular critical opinion, Maxïmo Park’s fourth album, The National Health is not a comeback. Quicken The Heart (2009) may have not been as successfully consistent as Our Earthly Pleasures (2007), for my money their best album, but to call it a failure or nondescript is just dumbfuckery. “Wraithlike” anyone? “The Kids Are Sick Again”? “Roller Disco Dreams?” Then on the other side is the stupid misconception that a band has to be “better” every album to remain relevant. Yet in hindsight, can anyone say The Jam’s Setting Sons is better than All Mod Cons? Armed Forces than This Year’s Model? Abbey Road than Revolver?
A good band can evolve, and on their latest, Maxïmo Park are trying some different things, like electro-pop on the excellent “Banlieue,” and rescuing the piano from Coldplay on the brilliant “This Is What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted.” Those two singles alone should be hits and make the band huge. Without some payola muscle, however, it’s probably not going to happen. The amazing thing is, those aren’t even their singles! Those would be “Hips And Lips,” “Write This Down” and “The Undercurrents.” Existential yet energized pop with Paul Smith slinging nonstop killer vocal melodies and juicy, chewy turns of phrase. Smith has become the go-to guy for writing about complicated relationships. Who else could write the conflicted, bittersweet “Reluctant Love” to sound so utterly swoony? On “Until The Earth Would Open” he tackles epic romance with the line “I’ve been saving myself for you” and damned if he doesn’t pull it off without sounding cloying. “Take Me Home,” “Waves Of Fear” and the title track tap into the kind of urgent, driving energy most associated with their first album A Certain Trigger (2005), which to be honest, The National Health kicks the shit out of.
Is this Maxïmo Park a better band than the one that made Our Earthly Pleasures? No. They’re the same fucking band, as great as they ever were. And in the U.S. they’re still so unknown it’s just retarded. I got to see them in a small room of 500, a triumphant show for the hardcore followers with everyone singing along to every song. It’s time to share the goods with the masses.
