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From Colour It In To Wall of Arms - Evolution of The Maccabees (FEATURE)
Wednesday, 11 August 2010 Written by Daniel Lynch
From Colour It In To Wall of Arms - Evolution of The Maccabees (FEATURE)

Little did I know standing in a sweaty, packed out tent at Oxegen a few years ago that the band I was listening to would very soon become one of my favourite bands. I was hugely sceptical of the whole Indie genre having been brought up on a staple diet of rock, metal and blues, but with no other bands on at the same time I had any interest in, I had thought why not. After being dragged to the tent by a friend who had heard these guys were good, I was less than enthusiastic when the five-piece took to the stage.

The band conformed to my preconceived idea of five lads in skinny jeans, top shop t shirts, pointy shoes and funny haircuts and I felt myself groan at the thought of being bombarded by the latest in indie offerings. A far cry from my staples of rock and blues, but I forced myself to be open minded and give the band a chance.

Very quickly however, my whole attitude changed. Dancy upbeat drumming drove the intertwining guitar licks and thudding bass lines. The young front-man’s vocals were delicate and endearing in places, but didn’t lack the punch needed in higher tempo songs, while the eyes of the lead guitarist nearest me bored into every audience member he could lock on to. The remaining three members kept the crowd engaged with their own on-stage antics which took some pressure off the singer.

Finally, after three exhilarating songs, singer Orlando Weeks introduced the band as the Maccabees. Now, as any festival goer might know, one might not be in the best condition of sobriety to remember the name of a band you’ve never heard of before, let alone remember any of their music. But, even after being bored to tears by Snow Patrol and simultaneously blinded and deafened by Muse and their light show, I managed to remember the details and promptly purchase the Maccabee’s debut album ‘Colour It In’ upon my return home. Such was the instantaneous effect the band had on me that I even remembered a few of the songs on the album from the gig.

As you might expect from a young band the sound is raw, lyrics aren’t always fantastic and there’s room for improvement, but despite very few shortcomings the debut album is a joy to listen to. Some of the guitar work is little short of genius- a dual guitar attack, not in the ilk of Thin Lizzy who I’d be more familiar with, but in a modern style, with plenty of attack and laden with irresistible hooks. As in the live setting, Weeks’ vocal style is both delicate and brutal depending on song and throughout drumming is at break neck speed and set to ‘dancy,’ with plenty of hi-hats. Tales of meeting girls at parties and swimming pools with wave machines are to be expected from a young band, but there’s nothing juvenile about this record as Weeks goes to question religion in ‘All In Your Rows.’ Even in this first album, there are signs of development.

Naturally when the follow up ‘Wall of Arms’ was released in 2009 I was compelled to pick up a copy. While retaining the important characteristics of their first album, it was evident that the Maccabees had evolved into a well rounded band. Song structuring was considerably better while lyrics and vocal arrangements were equally developed. ‘No Kind Words’ is particularly well written, describing the troubles of a friend who has ‘broke from tradition.’ Musically there is progression from ‘Colour It In’ as string and brass instruments are used to thicken the sound. It would seem that the second album syndrome has not affected the Brighton quintet.

The Maccabees have managed to be indie without being pretentious or just plain annoying as some bands in that genre come across and their two albums sit proudly in my collection alongside the likes of Thin Lizzy and Rory Gallagher as one of the few modern bands to have really caught me by the scruff of the neck and made me think ‘wow.’ Not only that, but there’s space reserved for their third offering. They are a band you cannot help but like and enjoy, both live and on CD, and I intend to take advantage of both resources at every opportunity!
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