« Aziz Ansari likes NIN, performs @ Laughable Hype Tonight | Main | Gothamist's Laughable Hype | Pics »
Posted in music on May 17, 2005
Maximo Park
On March 9th, 2005 I talked about Maximo Park after hearing they were playing their first U.S. show ever at Rothko in NYC on March 15th. I did go to the show, but never wrote a word about it until now. The Rothko show was dubbed a pre-SXSW pep rally and Ultragrrrl and Karen were DJing in cheerleading outfits. As Maximo Park took the stage, the cheerleaders cheered, "When I say Maximo. You say Park. When I say Maximo, etc...). The house was full to over-capacity. The band took the stage and said something about their excellent introduction to American Culture (referring to the cheer), and of course something about how happy they were to be there. I stayed for most of their set. Honestly, I got bored. It seemed at that moment that the whole British dance-rock-new-wave-revival-whatever-you-feel-like-calling-it thing was officially tired (it's a feeling others get when they think of the Killers and the Bravery I think).
Jeddeth liked the show, but agreed that Maximo Park sounded like the rest of the pack. He points out Coolfer's "Same, but Different" post.
I did like opener Hot Chip a lot though. Music For Robots liked both bands a lot.
From NYC Maximo Park headed to Austin, Texas where they played the infamous SXSW party located in the house of blogger Ben Brown. I'm sure they played more shows in Texas too.
Since then the hype has been building. They are/were playing a lot of festivals. They lost their bag. They topped NME's "Chart".
Today they officially entered the hipster hall of fame.
I'll give them another try. I still need to listen to the album. YOU CAN LISTEN TO THE WHOLE ALBUM AT NME. What do you think?
Buy a Certain Trigger @ Insound
Posted on May 17, 2005 5:14 PM
Leave a comment
Powered by Ajax Comments
« Aziz Ansari likes NIN, performs @ Laughable Hype Tonight | Main | Gothamist's Laughable Hype | Pics »
Comments (6)
i left that show unimpressed as well, but i've heard bits of the album on the radio here and there and it's really good. haven't read through the PFM review yet, but i wouldn't be surprised if the score is justified.
Posted by Jeff | May 17, 2005 6:33 PM
was at the rothko show as welland it got pretty sleepy post Hot Chip. Have since downloaded some stuff and it grows on ya. I'm a bit surprised by Pitchfork's eval - who knows, i think they just like to be random sometimes...
Posted by Pogger | May 17, 2005 6:45 PM
off topic, but whos opening for gang of four tomarrow?
Posted by Anonymous | May 17, 2005 7:33 PM
yeah i left after their second song.. maybe i should check out the album. i hate it when you havnt heard a band when you see them then listen to the album and love it.
Posted by Drew | May 17, 2005 7:57 PM
I was at the Rothko show too. I had heard a few Maximo Park tracks, but I was really there for Hot Chip, who I love. I left the show with the same sentiment. Hot CHip was spectacular, and actually struck me as a very American-looking band. Maximo park was awful live. The keyboard wasn't even on for the first half of the set, and it looked like they didn't even notice until somebody fixed it. And the chopping!!! Everybody chopping the air like they were at an air-Ginsu contest. It looked stupid. The lead guitarist was trying very hard to imitate Graham Coxon. And the bassist looked absurd on stage. When you see them together, it's like "Okay, one of these things is not like the others". My friends and I were in front, and couldn't stop laughing during their set.
Basically, Hot Chip rocked me, and Maximo Park...well, they were certainly entertaining, in the same way that watching home videos of a guy getting hit in the nuts is entertaining. But I wouldn't sign the guy getting hit in the nuts to a record deal, ya know?
Posted by interper | May 17, 2005 8:24 PM
True, Maximo Park are not pioneers, but I was so surprised at how entertaining they were at Rothko that I ended up seeing them again the following night at Mercury Lounge. They were so energetic and funny - they didn't seem to take themselves too seriously. Much more fun than a bunch of shoe-gazers.
Posted by Rita | May 18, 2005 9:23 AM