Polydor, released 04/05/2009.

The Maccabees were pure Skins territory when they first appeared.  Pretty cool, young, a bit scruffy looking, you know the sort.  The thing is, their debut album (called Colour It In and highly recommended for anyone who missed it) matched the presence with an accomplished collection of sharp, emotive and damn catchy tunes.  Stylish and talented.  They’re the antimatter in the Universe of Simon Cowell.


Album number two has plenty to live up to, but they’ve managed the all too troublesome trick of being as good but differently so.  There are common touches across the two long-players, Orlando Weeks’ croony vocals as seductive as before.  The man continues to sound as brilliantly on the edge of tears as ever, although the wonderfully moody “No Kind Words” is a masterpiece of quiet rage.  They’ve also kept up the fondness for jaunty indie with simple, melodic guitar lines.  But there’s more.  As the brass section bursts into the limelight in the middle of “Love You Better”, it becomes every inch the stripped down, Arcade-Fire-at-the-double piece of glory it’s dying to be.  “Can You Give It” may be the sunniest thing they’ve ever done, and the title track, “Wall of Arms” grooves its way into your heart with more imagination than any Saturday night television programme would know what to do with.

While the debut had its youthful children-holding-hands-in-the-park side, this effort has managed to keep the charm but expand the musical vision.  The Maccabees have acknowledged that their audience is on the young side but also that they believe said audience have developed enough to get into their new sound.  In truth it’s the band themselves that have grown the most, and they’re a joy to be around.

Posted In Album Reviews, May 07 2009. Words - Martin