There’s the slightest tone of desperation here, a voice g(r)asping at the future blindly: “I hope that I am still alive next year”. In what sense is left to us to interpret, but chances are that Maximo Park would kill to be considered an essential component of the UK’s blossoming post-post-punk scene in 12 months’ time. Based on this single – so catchy the milkman will be whistling it whilst on the job with your mum – their fears may be a little premature.
However, the immediacy of ‘Apply Some Pressure' presents one with a problem: this is so now it can’t possibly be next year. A great pop song it is, granted, but one that’s so of a moment that it can’t possibly possess longevity. A cog in the machine that drives Franz, Bloc et al towards the biggest bucks, Maximo Park are an essential component in today’s pop machine; part of a two-way relationship that sees the big hitters highlight the work of their lower division peers. Success for today, relatively speaking, is therefore assured. What tomorrow brings though, nobody knows.
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6Mike Diver's Score