The Maccabees – Given to the Wild

12 January 2012

I’ve just read the news: The Maccabees are apparently set to hit the lofty heights of #1 in the UK album charts this coming Sunday with their new album. Excuse me a moment while I punch the air in delight. This review was going to highlight the reasons why Given to the Wild deserved to be the band’s breakthrough album, anyway, but having my suspicions confirmed is something rather thrilling. Unless you’re the kind who feels that the bands they love are ‘precious’, there’s always that feeling of joy when you see them become noticed, and even though the thought of them becoming ‘big’ (as it were) more often than not scares certain sections of their fanbase, success of any sort should not be begrudged.

Consider The Maccabees’s situation: in five years, they have made the jump from being (somewhat unfairly) lumped in with the UK landfill-indie ‘scene’, to becoming a force to be seriously reckoned with. The local boys are going nationwide, to borrow from All In Your Rows, from 2007′s Colour It In. However, the new record is so expansive and textured that it will test fans’ abilities to grow, just as the band have done. Being given a Markus Dravs-assisted shot in the arm with Wall of Arms three years ago worked wonders for the band. It was a huge step forward, and the band have changed just as much again for their third outing… meaning that Given to the Wild sounds nothing like how they used to be.

The album’s lyrical themes deal with change, too, Orlando Weeks’ style having matured even further in the wake of the break-up that influenced his band’s second album. He reminds us that ‘nothing stays forever’ on album centrepiece Forever I’ve Known, reflecting on the transient nature of existence on sparky lead single Pelican (in what is an amazingly effective contrast), marrying lyrics like, ‘Before you know it, we’re pushing up the daisies’ to an insistent guitar line and sky-scraping hooks. Speaking of the latter, the keyboard line from Went Away has the capability to get stuck in a listener’s head for days.

Its appearance is one euphoric moment among many; Given to the Wild is absolutely chock-full of them, meaning this is quite comfortably the most optimistic and uplifting Maccabees record so far, despite the weightiness of its themes. However, it is not without its darker moments. Unknow is another album highlight, yet it inhabits murkier territory with its brooding bassline and jerky guitar blasts, a perfect counterpoint to Pelican, with which it has noticeable similarities in composition, even if the songs’ moods couldn’t be more different.

It has been said of the album (by the band themselves) that it possesses a sort of cinematic quality, and this is clearly audible in its structure; it has a sort of overture in the title track, before leading into Child, a song which introduces the main themes of the album: change, growth and maturity. Things draw to a close with Grew Up at Midnight, the stunning final track which ties things up nicely, giving the record a nice sense of closure. It ebbs and flows wonderfully, ensuring that not one of its 13 songs is passed over. Its 53-minute running time may seem questionable at first, but as the album grows on you – and it is definitely a grower, nowhere as immediate as their previous work – and its true depths are revealed, you sense that it is the perfect length. Far away from where they started, The Maccabees’s wild ride of a third album looks set to take them places – places they perhaps never dreamed of seeing.

Given to the Wild is out now via Fiction/Polydor
[BUY] The Maccabees – Given to the Wild @ Amazon | iTunes | Norman Recs

The Maccabees – Pelican

Carrow’s Ones to Watch 2012

By: Carrow

9 January 2012

In: Features, News & Leaks

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With the advent of a new year, there comes the scramble that most blogs get caught up in, to make their predictions about who they think will make it big over the following twelve months. I’m not sure about you, but one look at this year’s BBC Sound of… list was enough for me to bury my head in my hands in abject despair. I’m a fan of only a few picks on that list; the rest failed to click with me at all. A much more pleasing alternative was the Blog Sound of 2012 list, eventually topped by Friends, which brought a number of bands to my attention I most likely would have been previously unaware of, and it is in a similar spirit that I’m throwing down the gauntlet and choosing, once and for all (pun definitely intended), the three bands that I’m tipping for big things this year. No take-backs, no hesitation, certainly none of the ‘oh shit, I got that wrong, didn’t I?’ remorse later in the year. I’ve been there before, but I have no regrets, and I want to be able to say the same thing about my choices come December 2012. Besides, even if I do get it wrong… it’s not the end of the world.

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Clock Opera [Facebook/Twitter/Soundcloud]

This lot have been building up a fine head of steam over the last few years. It’s been quite a while since White Noise was released back in 2009, but in that time, the London quartet, led by Guy Connelly, have gone from being hot prospects to becoming the most exciting band in the UK. Recently, the group unveiled the video for the lead single from their forthcoming debut album, which can be viewed below. Once and For All was released as a single back in 2010, but it’s been re-recorded and paired with a new, genuinely affecting clip that finds the band addressing some big issues. They seem to be most comfortable with doing that, as previous single, Lesson No. 7 (premiered the week before the UK riots), tapped into the zeitgeist with its lyrics which tackled the problem of social unrest. This may point towards their long-awaited debut Ways to Forget being a heavy proposition, but we’re certain it’ll be wrapped in the cathartic ‘chop-pop’ they’ve become known for. It arrives on April 9th, and if past indications are anything to go by, it’ll be one of the albums of the year. Make sure you don’t miss it.

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Our Lost Infantry [Facebook/Twitter/Soundcloud]

Sometimes, the best way to get noticed is to take about as many risks as you can and hope it pays off. Our Lost Infantry would know all about that, of course: their songs boast a structural complexity that can be slightly intimidating at times, but they have an ear for melody that few bands of this ilk can match. They’ve been releasing a steady stream of material since exploding onto the scene with double A-side The Arsonist /Scissorfight back in April of 2010, and the majority of the aforementioned material can be streamed at their Bandcamp, while the video for most recent single Pedestals can be seen below. The band’s musical dexterity doesn’t just mean they know how to write a well-structured song: they have a penchant for unusual time signatures as well. Think Grammatics with even more pop-sensibility and a DIY ethos – most of their material has been self-produced. They will have new stuff (whatever that might entail) out in April – my bet is an EP. Whatever it is, it should, as usual, be exciting.

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Screaming Maldini [Facebook/Twitter/Bandcamp]

Here’s another band who are intent on making complex time signatures their bitch. Their sound is expansive (there are six people involved), their choruses are massive (as evinced by pretty much every song they’ve put out so far), they are signed to the ever-reliable Alcopop! Records. They also have an album coming out; it’s not known when exactly, but my guess is sometime within the first half of 2012. I can’t wait for it, especially so because some members of the band used to be in Situationists, who split in 2009 and never got around to releasing a proper full-length (outside of Japan at least). They inhabit a different part of the prog-pop spectrum than Our Lost Infantry do, relying on colourful orchestral arrangements as the foundations of their sound. It’s something they’ve already done a lot with, and the wheels are in motion for them to make a name for themselves this year. More power to them, and their awesome dress sense, as seen in the video for Secret Sounds, which is below…

△ (Alt-J) – Fitzpleasure

By: Tim

9 January 2012

In: News & Leaks

2 comments

Alt-J - Fitzpleasure

Walrus favourites △ (Alt-J) (soundcloud) have been on plenty of lists as one of the bands to watch for 2012, and for a damn good reason. Having just been signed to indie powerhouse Infectious, the stable of The Temper Trap and Local Natives, we will hopefully be seeing the boys everywhere with an album coming out later in the year.

For now, however, they’ve dropped another delight full of the harmonies awkward percussion we’ve learned to love withbeautifully dark and dirty distortion simmering beneath.

Fitzpleasure will be released on 27th February on Infectious – I’ll take it as a late birthday present!