Singles

Maximo Park - Books from Boxes

Paul Cook 18/06/2007

Rating: 3.5/5

Lyrically Poetic and oozing with imagery, Books from Boxes, Maxïmo Park's second release from the fantastic 'Our Earthly Pleasures' is a typically nostalgic and sensory experience. The keyboard weaved throughout the harmonies is delectable and the chorus, though not quite the explosion of energy one might hope for from Maxïmo Park, is exciting all the same with a delicious riff.

Paul Smith's vocals are rich and sincere with each line complementing the next, elegiac, the writing is sublime. A little less imaginative and lacking in the bravado that makes the Park one of the more exciting indie bands around, 'Books from Boxes' is a track that grows on you in light of the fantastic competition it has on the album with the powerhouse tracks like 'Our Velocity' and “The Unshockable.' Positioned at track three of the album following 'Girls Who Play Guitars' and the first release 'Our Velocity' it fails to impress, but singled out 'Books from Boxes' a gentler, soaring Maxïmo Park number.

The genuineness and sincerity that shines through from Smith's vocals do feel a little hard done by musically. The guitars could be edgier and the drums feel restrained at times. The track is one of the more thoughtful and intelligent tracks from 'Our Earthly Pleasures' and twinned with a bolder chorus and more experimental soundscape that we, as the hard-to-please listener, have come to expect from the Park, 'Books from Boxes' could have been mesmerising. Instead, this duty is left down to the rest of the album which, with 'Girls Who Play Guitars' and 'By The Monument' on the tracklisting isn't a bad thing in the slightest.

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