Indie rock band Maxïmo Park, from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, were part of the 2000’s British post-punk revival, alongside bands such as Arctic Monkeys, The Libertines and Franz Ferdinand.  The band released their debut album ‘A Certain Trigger‘ in 2005, and 20 years later they have announced a tour to celebrate their seminal album, ending their tour with a homecoming show in the O2 City Hall in Newcastle.

‘A Certain Trigger‘ includes singles such as ‘Apply Some Pressure’ and ‘Going Missing’ and was released to critical acclaim. The album was nominated for the 2005 Mercury Prize and reached #20 on the UK Albums Chart. It  sold over 500,000 copies worldwide and was certified Gold by the BPI. On the 20th anniversary tour, the band will play the album in it’s entirety as well as some of their greatest hits from throughout the years.

They announced their tour on Instagram, displayed below:

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A post shared by Maximo Park (@maximoparkofficial)

Speaking to Rolling Stone, Paul Smith, frontman of Maxïmo Park said ““Not many bands make it to a twentieth year together so we’re having a big celebration, with a special 20th anniversary tour and by giving a fresh perspective to A Certain Trigger. Our first album remains dear to so many people, and compiling archive material for the reissue has been like entering a time machine – thrilling, but also a bit scary!”.

The band have been teasing the announcement of this tour for the past 3 days, with the following post being uploaded to Instagram on Monday. This caused speculation and excitement amongst fans who have been eagerly awaiting this announcement, following their hugely successful 10th anniversary tour of the same album in 2015.

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A post shared by Maximo Park (@maximoparkofficial)

Tickets for the band’s UK tour are available on their official website.

Maxïmo Park Tour Dates:
6th Feb – O2 Academy, Glasgow
7th Feb – O2 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester
8th Feb – O2 Academy, Liverpool
10th Feb – O2 Academy, Bournemouth
11th Feb – O2 Academy, Bristol
13th Feb – O2 Academy, Birmingham
14th Feb – O2 Brixton Academy, London
15th Feb – O2 Academy, Oxford
17th Feb – Corn Exchange, Cambridge
18th Feb – Rock City, Nottingham
20th Feb – O2 Academy, Leeds
21st Feb – O2 City Hall, Newcastle

Maxïmo Park have also created a 20 year anniversary edition of the album signed by the band, which will be released on October 31 2025. The reissue is available in 3 formats, a double CD and a double vinyl, including original demos of ‘Apply Some Pressure’ and more, as well as a triple vinyl, with the third vinyl containing remixes of songs from the album. It is a valuable item for Maxïmo Park’s faithful fans. It is available for pre-order here.

The Boys Of The Better Land hitmakers shared the exciting news of their latest release to their official Instagram page today. Featuring a blue-themed montage of the band and Televised Mind blaring in the background, Fontaines D.C took the time to show their appreciation for their fans during the making of A Hero’s Death, declaring that “Writing this record last year meant everything to us, the support you’ve shown us since it’s announcement means just as much.” Receiving over 10,000 likes, the post was met with excitement from the band’s ever-growing fan base. 

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Our second album ‘A Hero’s Death’ is out today. Writing this record last year meant everything to us, the support you’ve shown us since it’s announcement means just as much. We want to give a special thank you to everyone at @partisanrecords & of course Dan Carey. Not to forget those who manage to still put up with us on a daily basis: Trevor Dietz, Emma Greengrass, Sara Stokes & Ian McAndrew. And thank you to Nick Launay and Adam Greenspan for helping us figure this record out. Go raibh maith agaibh. Grian, Deego, Curley, Tom, and Carlos. X Buy or stream our new album now, link in bio.

A post shared by Fontaines D.C. (@fontainesband) on Jul 31, 2020 at 1:00am PDT

A Hero’s Death begins with a gritty, gloomy guitar riff. From the opening bars, we know we are in for a treat. The dooming guitar and percussion loom steadily into I Don’t Belong, a track tinged with 1990’s punk. As the record progresses, the haunting song You Said contains intense lyrics like “You said/You been on the brink so slow down”, the Irish five-piece are not ones to shy away from the use of visceral lyricism. Instead, they revel in it.

This self-assured moxie within A Hero’s Death is one of the reasons that Fontaines D.C is taking the post-punk world by storm. When asked about the meaning behind the lyrics of I Don’t Belong, lead vocalist Grian Chatten meditated “I think I’m very susceptible to people-pleasing. I often end interactions feeling kind of dirty because I’ve forced myself into saying things I don’t believe, or into acting happy or energetic or whatever. That sickness kind of built up and this tune came out of that.”

A Hero’s Death certainly showcases the band’s broad sonic range. Within an eleven-track record, we are pulled between the emotive track No, to the aggressively charged A Televised Mind, to A Lucid Dream, the songs remaining profoundly different yet equally as enticing to the listener. Tracks Love Is The Main Thing and Oh Such A Spring convey a softer edge to the band, along with their aptitude as storytellers. When describing the powerful album title, guitarist Carlos O’Connell said “It has that Shakespearean drama about it”

With fans already eager to see Fontaines D.C perform their new album, the live iterations of A Hero’s Death won’t be until next year, unfortunately. Along with countless other artists who have responsibly adhered to health guidelines in recent months, Fontaines D.C pushed back their planned European and UK tour to 2021. A Hero’s Death tour will now commence March 2021.

In preparation for their keenly awaited second album A Hero’s Death, Televised Mind marks Fontaines D.C’s third release from their upcoming project. Formed in 2017, Fontaines D.C stormed onto the punk rock scene before releasing Dogrel. Their debut album was met with admiration from critics and fans alike and was awarded Album of The Year 2019 by both Rough Trade and BBC Radio 6. 

Televised Mind also follows the previously released I Don’t Belong and title track A Hero’s Death. Reminiscent of early Nirvana, I Don’t Belong is bathed in melancholia, whilst the title track is punkier and aggressively charged. 

Televised Mind certainly matches the power behind I Don’t Belong and A Hero’s Death strength for strength. With a title that alludes to George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984, frontman Grian Chatten sings the haunting: “Dublin line for the televised mind/We’re all televised minds”, cautionary lyrics, and more relevant than we may want to admit.

A narrative voice striving for authenticity in an increasingly inauthentic world, the song is about maintaining individuality in a society fuelled by trends. Fontaines D.C stated that: “We’re never really given the education of our own fallibility. People feign these great beliefs in order to appear trendy, as opposed to independently arriving at their own thoughts”. 

Alluding to past punk rock anthems, the track opens with an isolated electric guitar riff, immediately compelling the listener. Quickly following are booming, steadfast drums and more droning, hypnotic guitars. Pounding with raw instrumentation and robust vocals, the track screams Fontaines D.C, their distinct punk sound the reasoning behind their fast success.

Fontaines D.C simultaneously dropped the music video, which was directed by Hugh Malhern,  on YouTube to 21,000 subscribers. Simple yet effective, the music video displays individual close-ups of each band member drenched in neon blue playing their instruments, with a jet black background. Garnering over 7,000 views in a few short hours, the music video was met with an ecstatic reception from fans.

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Our new single ‘Televised Mind’ is out now. Pre-order our album ‘A Hero’s Death’ to get it straight away. Link in bio. . . . Video directed by @hughmulhern

A post shared by Fontaines D.C. (@fontainesband) on Jun 30, 2020 at 9:30am PDT

The five-piece band also took to their official Instagram page to post news of their latest release. The short clip was shared with over 76,000 followers and featured the Televised Mind music video. 

Already it has obtained an exuberant reception from fans, with 8,000 likes and views in just four hours. The band captioned the post with the following statement: “Our new single ‘Televised Mind’ is out now. Pre-order our album ‘A Hero’s Death’ to get it straight away. Link in bio”

Formed in 2017, the Irish band is made up of members Carlos O’Connell, Conor Curley, Connor Deegan, Grian Chatten, and Tom Coll. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the punk quintet has postponed the release of  A Hero’s Day until later on this year. 

Televised Mind is out now.