| CD REVIEW The Maccabees |
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Band : The Maccabees The Maccabees is a now Brighton-based (originally from South London) British Indie Rock quintet (consisting of lead singer Orlando Weeks, guitarist Hugo Weeks, his brother Felix on guitar & backing vocals, bassist Rupert Jarvis, and drummer Sam Doyle – whom replaced the rehab needing Robert Dylan Thomas during last year), which has just recently (see date above) released its sophomore album through the Fiction label, dustributed in the UK through Polydor! Which means that on their home turf, they have the pull and push of a major label! Their beginnings were much more humble, because when their single X-Ray was issued through the Promise Records label in late November 2005, they got little more exposure than some evening play on London radio station Xfm London (actually, it was preceeded by the You Make Noise, I Make Sandwiches EP, issued through the Haircut records imprint in August 2004, but that made even less waves). However, 6 months later (April 2006) came second single Latchmere(through Fierce Panda Records), and partly thanks to some push by Radio 1 DJ Steve Lamacq (whom invited the band to a live-in-the-studio session, which later – Sept. ’06 – got released through Fiction Records), its video not only got airtime on MTV2, but also became an Internet hit after being posted on YouTube. The band then signed to Fiction Records, whom issued the full-length debut Colour It In on May 2007. However, because an early copy of the album of the album landed on the New York Times network, it was made available for download from iTunes as early as December 16, 2006, in an effort to counteract the negative effects of the leak. The tactic worked out well, first single “First Love” reaching the top 40 charts in the UK. Follow-up single “About Your Dress” went up to #33, and the album itself did even better, getting positive rreviews and charting at #24. Mobile phone makers Samsung then used the album’s track “Toothpaste Kisses” in its advert campaign for their SGH-G800 model in late 2007, further broadening the band’s visibility! Band and label reacted to the advert by releasing an EP by the same title in Oct. ‘07, but that didn’t chart. Following some more singles, with Precious Time (May 2007)making it to #49 in the charts, and the follow-up Toothpaste Kisses (Jan. 2008) only making it to #70! Musically, the band taps from the ‘80s sound of the likes of, her…The Smiths, The Alams, and consorts…but only to a certain extend, the guys adding a modern sensitivity which is closer to Rock than to the Pop side of named comparison, giving it a more contemporary touch! At any rate, Weeks has quite a different vocal signature, with something nasal in it which differenciates it from other singers in the genre and set him well apart as a recognizable unit! Confused? Can’t make up your mind about what these guys might sound like? Just check out what these words mean by surfing to myspace.com/themaccabees. Off the new album, you get only samples of 3 tracks, or rather 4, and off the debut only “Toothpaste Kisses” is available as full-length. At any rate, what’s available will give you a good idea of what to expect! Note: if the more commercial kinds of music are not your thing, maybe it’s better to abstanciate! Meanwhile, the band finishes its frontal assault on the Summer Festivals (they were even at Belgium’s Pukkelpop), and will then be taking the month of September off. They then return to the live front in October with a short British headlining tour before joining Editors’s European tour as a support (tour starts November 15 in Brussels’ Vorst Nationaal, then to Holland, etc…). The album’s already seen 3 singles to date, starting with “No Kind Words” (which didn’t chart) on March 1st, followed-up by 27 April’s “Love You Better” (album opening track, and making it to #36), and eventually (June 6) “Can You Make It” (which didn’t chart either…or not to my knowledge). 82/100 Tony. |