It’s disappointing to note that music critics look back on 2007, it won’t be remembered as the year Maximo Park took the world by storm.

All the evidence that this could have been their year was in place in January, with the stupendously brilliant single Our Velocity preceding the equally brilliant album Our Earthly Pleasures.

It looked likely that their songs – which are filled with an energy that leaves many of their peers in the shade - would be a big hit, with Paul Smith’s evocative lyrics melting the hearts of music fans across Britain.

However, this hasn’t happened.

So why hasn’t the UK fallen in love with this most British of bands? The answer to the conundrum won’t be found through listening to Girls Who Play Guitars, as their third single of the year only serves to compound the enigma.

Guitars bursts out of the blocks on a shot of feedback and a two-note riff, with the band utilising the classic pop equation of telling a sad story over an upbeat backing to maximum effect.

However, if the inventive, post-punk music fails to impress you, the lyrics are bound to. Lines such as “When you lie on your bed and you label me your friend/Don’t you know how much it hurts?” serve as further evidence that Smith could be the finest lyricist of his generation.

This release also strengthens this reviewer’s claim that no other British band has released a better trio of singles as Velocity, Books from Boxes and this track in the past nine months.