The Useless Critic 2.0

 On February 26th, British rock band Maximo Park released their seventh album, "Nature Always Wins." The album is a good listen for the two-decade-old band; it's reminiscent of their earlier efforts - like "A Certain Trigger," which is by far their pinnacle work - but it feels more mature, more grounded. "Why Must a Building Burn?" is classic Maximo Park, but more restrained and more pensive. Lead singer Paul Smith says about this track, " "Why Must A Building Burn? is a snapshot of ordinary lives touched by tragedy in different ways. I think the heavy subject matter is alleviated, and made more resonant, by the effervescent music. I was thinking of how Prince does that brilliantly in 'Sign O' The Times' when we wrote the song.” Although it might fly under your radar, give the entirety of "Nature Always Wins" a listen. While it may not be life-changing, it's a solid album nonetheless. Check out "Why Must a Build...

This year, Feb. 3 is not just the day after Groundhog Day: It's the day the new Maximo Park album, " Too Much Information ," drops. Yes, like I said before: The mid-2000s are cool again. I haven't listened to Maximo Park in a long time. But I will rectify that shortly, AND YOU SHOULD TOO.  Heads-up for Brits who are not me (ha, see what I did there)- the band has a UK tour planned soon as well.  ' The band just released a promo video as well for "Brain Cells." It's a little more ethereal than what I've come to expect from Maximo Park. But perhaps I'm just not in the know: