Rating:
* * *
Geordie outfit Maximo Park score no points for originality on
Quicken the Heart
- their third album full of swaggering bass-lines, spoken lyrics and searing, sonic riffs. Clearly subscribing to the 'if it ain't broke ... ' theory of songwriting, their third record is a solid collection of contemporary Brit alt rock - a cross between Kaiser Chiefs and Muse, with a dash of Franz Ferdinand.
It's a style that has earned them accolades - their debut album
A Certain Trigger
was nominated for the 2005 Mercury Prize - and a legion of followers. They've been selected to open Britain's biggest music festival, Glastonbury, next month.
Quicken the Heart
may not be an adrenalin-inducing shock for fans, but it will get the foot tapping and head swaying as the band alternate between stomping rhythms and dreamy, sonic synth.
The anthemic chant of
The Kids Are Sick Again
rates among the catchiest offerings of the record, along with the deep rumble of
The Penultimate Clinch
and the cooing vocals of
Let's Get Clinical
.
Elsewhere,
Roller Disco Dreams
and
Tanned
see the band enter a more ethereal register, swathed in fuzzy distortion and shimmering synths.
Front man Paul Smith's vocals are as deep and enticing as ever - none more so than on
Questing, Not Coasting
- as he sing-speaks his way through the record. It may not be new, but it's still pretty good.
Joanna Hunkin
