What is it about graffiti artists that have them pricing their art so low? All it takes is a single couplet sung by a French girl and they are off baring their imaginative creations to the world. As you’d expect from the purveyors of such simplistic themes Maximo Park inhabit a world populated by the likes of the Kaiser Chiefs but don’t let this put you off as Maximo Park have much the better songs. Their debut ‘A Certain Trigger’ (released on electronic label Warp) bustles along with imaginative verve, the energetic new wave ethic is omnipresent and there are enough short sharp tunes to populate a Franz Ferdinand record. ‘Graffiti’ is a pleasing example, guitars spin vociferous melodies, the momentum is punctuated by a slow/fast percussion and Paul Smith’s word volleys seamlessly wrap up the tidy package of sound. KD

Maximo Park - Graffiti

Album: A Certain Trigger
Year: 2005