Maximo Park

For those who've longed for the poetic license of Morrissey crammed into the keyboard-tinted riffs of the Cars, leave it to the limeys to satisfy the demand. Maximo Park has already received panting advance praise, and A Certain Trigger actually bears 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 Cockney 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 such easily discarded pretension.