Test Spin: Maximo Park

Quietly across the pond, Maximo Park has been asserting themselves as true contenders amidst the battle royal for British Rock supremacy. And although their peers Bloc Party, Klaxons and the Arctic Monkeys have enjoyed hyperbole-filled waves of adoration aboard the NME express line, Maximo Park has received very little adulation (given the fact that their debut album sold over half a million copies). That suits them just fine though, as they continue making solid songs, quietly and consistently. Now, the Newcastle quintet show they still have something to say, ditching their previously messy garage-rock sound for precise, crunchy jangle-pop. Paul Smith expands his songwriting abilities, creating emotive images to help carry his stories alongside cascading guitar melodies and keyboards. Maximo Park delves into new sonic territory, ranging from the stereophonic eight-bit rapidity of “Our Velocity” to the otherworldly Geordie-accent crooning on “Parisian Skies,” but all-in-all fashioning a definite grower worthy of a few spins.