Maximo Park were just one of the countless Post-Punk bands such as Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand, The Futureheads and Kaiser Chiefs that all came out of the UK a few years back. Since then, all but Maximo Park have made follow-up records. Some were good (bravo Futureheads) some were decent (try to give us something better next time Franz) and some were putrid (I'm holding my nose in your direction Bloc Party and Kaiser Chiefs). Maximo Park's Our Earthly Pleasures goes into the Franz Ferdinand follow-up pile for being decent, but certainly nothing as special as their promising debut A Certain Trigger.

Front man Paul Smith has got the Andy Partridge/XTC vocal thing down pat, that much is certain. A fact that is something of a double edged sword for Smith, because for all his vocal resemblance he's not nearly as clever a songwriter as Partridge even though he thinks he is. Some tracks like the opening "Girls Who Play Guitars" and "Nosebleed" are reasonably clever but songs such as "A Fortnight's Time" and "Russian Literature" are overwrought and not nearly as keen as Smith imagines them to be.

The track that gives me hope for the future of Maximo Park though is "Your Urge." Starting off nimbly enough with piano and a croon from Smith, midway through it builds to a unique intensity on the shoulders of one giant crescendo. More than anything it shows that Maximo Park have range and are capable of bringing novel musical ideas to the party. Indicative perhaps that they may well be headed for a future rather than a quick sideways departure astride their one trick pony. Our Earthly Pleasures isn't essential by any means but while you're waiting for the new Futureheads record you might want to try and temporarily wet your whistle with it.