Maximo Park - Our Earthly Pleasures

The house that Paul Epworth built has fallen, and only Maximo Park emerge unscathed. Two years ago, Epworth produced catchy angular debuts from Bloc Party, the Futureheads and The Rakes: each band subsequently changed producer, and follow-up albums have received mixed receptions. That's not the case with Our Earthly Pleasures, which has ditched the trendy sound-of-the-scene in favour of straighter, bigger pop songs, this time aided by Pixies producer Gil Norton. Relentless guitar chopping has been replaced by varying tempos, prominent keyboards and grander choruses; the head-first rush of youth with the reflection of second-album maturity. With that growth comes the inevitable mis-step into sentimentality on two tracks – but that's a small complaint when there's at least six others here to rattle indie dancefloors nationwide. Maximo Park used to be easily dismissed as post-punk scenesters – not anymore. Our Earthly Pleasures confirms that their unpretentious pop credentials exceed those of each of Epworth's other proteges. [Ally Brown]