Quicken the Heart
Maxïmo Park
Score:31
Reviewer: Ed Butler
Label: Warp (UK & USA), Inertia (Australia)
Reviewed: Oct 19th '09, Released:2009
What a shame. After bursting onto the scene in 2005 with the magnificently energetic A Certain Trigger, Maxïmo Park have jumped the shark. While its successor Our Earthly Pleasures was a mild, play-it-safe letdown, its failure lay as much in its lack of verve as its unadventurous production. The band retained a solid grasp of melody and Paul Smith’s lyrics resolutely avoided the lifeless brio that is the hallmark of the unfortunately titled Quicken the Heart.
Why unfortunate? Well, there is little on the album’s 13 tracks that threatens to raise a sweat, let alone the pulse. Some of the issues from Our Earthly Pleasures are remedied, in particular Gil Norton’s passive, sterile production. This time, the umlauted new-new-wavers have recruited a bigger name in Nick Launay, who does his best to lend urgency to what are some truly lacklustre songs.
Everything on Quicken the Heart is a pale facsimile of things done far better, earlier, and ‘Wraithlike’, the fairly insipid opening track, is a sterling example. Melodies are effectively absent, guitar fills are underdeveloped and Smith’s lyrics, while still wryly sad, are delivered with a distinct lack of passion. The real problem is that these criticisms can be applied equally to almost every track.
Not all of the new British invasion class of 2003-2005 have had such a poor run of form since their respective debuts. Franz Ferdinand’s third effort, Tonight, was a pleasant surprise, after everyone expected they would fall into the trap to which Maxïmo Park, Bloc Party and the Futureheads fell. But for now, things look decidedly dire. Hopefully, this isn’t the end of Maxïmo Park. The memory of A Certain Trigger remains fresh in the mind. They are capable of better.
