Maxïmo Park: The National Health

Maxïmo Park
The National Health
Daylighting/ Straight To The Sun Records [2012]

Fire Note Says: If you don’t know Maxïmo Park by now, you should, this is their 4^th straight winner!

Album Review:

I’ve been waiting patiently for the 4^th lp from Newcastle’s Maxïmo Park for a few years now,  since 2009’s Quicken The Heart resided near the top of my top 20 list for that year. Here’s what you can count on, and what you hope for from a Maxïmo Park lp, smart, toe tappin punk edged pop songs that stick in your head and demand repeated listenings. Maxïmo Park was originally part of the New Wave of the New Wave that was all the craze back in 2004, when bands like Bloc Party, Kaiser Chiefs, Futureheads and Maxïmo Park all seemed like they were going to be the next big thing. They all put out sensational debut lps, then started to drop out of sight for whatever reason. Bloc Party never could capture the magic of Silent Alarm again, Kaiser Chiefs actually managed to continue to improve, but never caught on in America, Futureheads followed up their debut with a difficult sophomore effort and didn’t really get back on track until their 4^th album, The Chaos, in 2010, and Maxïmo Park could never seem to catch a break in the states.  After calling off the US tour for Quicken The Heart all together, I feared the worst…

Luckily, the lads from Newcastle didn’t pack it in, but took a break and pursued other projects, but they are back in a big way. Working once again with producer Gil Norton, who manned the board for the underrated 2^nd Maxïmo Park lp, Our Earthly Pleasures, they have captured the energy of the first lp, A Certain Trigger and given it the bigger sound that Gil Norton is known for (think Foo Fighters-The Colour and the Shape). Highlights are abundant, but my personal favorites are “Hips and Lips”, “Write This Down”, “This Is What Becomes of the Brokenhearted”, and “Reluctant Love”.

If I had to rank the Maxïmo Park discography, A Certain Trigger is still #1, but this has moved into the #2 slot, with Quicken the Heart 3^rd and Our Earthly Pleasures 4^th.  Give this album a shot, you will not be disappointed!

Key Tracks: “Reluctant Love”,” Hips and Lips”, “This Is What Becomes of the Brokenhearted”, “Until The Earth Would Open”

Bands With Similar Fire:

Kaiser Chiefs

Futureheads

Bloc Party

Maxïmo Park: Quicken The Heart [Fire Note Review 5/19/09]

Maxïmo Park: Our Earthly Pleasures [Fire Note Review 5/31/07]

Maxïmo Park Website

Maxïmo Park Facebook
Straight To The Sun Records

-Reviewed by Kevin Poindexter