Missing Songs

by

Maxïmo Park

Edit

A year of impressive live performances and hot singles such as Apply Some Pressure and Graffiti have made Maximo Park's debut album A Certain Trigger a favourite for fans of the revitalised British rock movement. Frontman Paul Smith's stage presence is equal parts Ian Curtis and Ian McKellen, orating like a Shakespearean actor from a book of lyrics one minute before erupting in an angular dance aptly aping the Maximo Park sound.

With the advent of Dual Disc, tour editions and repackaged albums it seems that music fans are being suckered into buying numerous versions of their favourite albums to ensure they don't miss out on the bonus rarities. Unlike closely aligned UK group Bloc Party - who have managed to release four separate fan-screwing versions of their debut Silent Alarm this year - Maximo Park take a positive stance by offering Missing Songs as both a stand-alone disc and as a special package coupled with the staggering A Certain Trigger.

Clocking in at a little over a half hour, Missing Songs kicks off with the excellent A19 and the brief John Lennon cover Isolation, previously available as part of a Q magazine promotion. As well as the dead Beatle, XTC are also offered a tribute of sorts with the track Trial And Error, which comes close to approximating Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding's art rock sound. The acoustic Stray Talk and the Kaiser Chiefs-with-added-xylophone feel of Hammer Horror are highlights, with the gloriously tinny demos of Apply Some Pressure and Graffiti an intriguing commodity compared to the versions polished up by in-demand Brit producer Paul Epworth.

Comprising unreleased commodities and non-LP tunes from the Newcastle group, Missing Songs emerges as a worthier and more revealing album than many legitimate releases from 2005 upstarts such as Art Brut, Babyshambles and The Subways. The double-headed power of A Certain Trigger and Missing Songs prove that bringing back the comb-over is the least of Paul Smith's 2005 achievements.