Maxïmo Park

There are those among us who long for the poetic license of Morrissey to be crammed into the keyboard-tinted riffs of the Cars. Leave it to the limeys to satisfy the demand. Maxïmo Park already has received panting advance praise, and A Certain Triggerbears out much of that premature adulation. "Apply Some Pressure" will doubtless pack every venue in Britain with its smart-assed one-liners ("I hope that I am still alive next year"), muddy, grinding riffs and roller-coaster beat. Lead singer Paul Smith delivers his snide literary lyrics with hot contempt, which is exactly what we like our British rockers to do. At times, the art-school rhythmic kinks can impede listening, but the act's anthemic pop instincts consistently lay waste to such easily discarded pretension.