Maccabee Good

Posted on June 30, 2006 by Contributor

Artist: The Maccabees
Author: Paul Mc Connell

Remember the days when you found a CD "or tape" of a band you barely knew" threw it on the stereo and it just sounds different" Maybe not" after all it has been awhile since the rapture of Nirvana" the sheer balls of " pre disappearance"up"their"own"arses " Oasis or the brute mentalism of The Libertines explosion. I welcomed that warm glow of nuance back again when I heard The Maccabees.

Coming on like Robert Smith fronting The Jam by way of Mike Skinner and his pavement observational " the Brighton"based/ London "Borne five piece are currently preparing their first foray onto our shelves" having recorded early demo"s with Pixies producer Gil Norton and latterly working with Ian Harvey on debut single "X"Ray". At present the band is roughly half way through assembling what promises to be one of the more eccentric and deftly crafted albums of the near future.

The band was grown from the potent minds of Orlando Weeks "vocals"" Hugo White "guitar"" brother Felix "guitar/vocals" Rupert Jarvis "bass" and the fantastically named Robert Dylan Thomas after they met in their native Clapham" London. It must be said" one of the first questions that came to mind when talking to Hugo was why the relocation from the bright lights to the coastal chill"

""Brighton" is much smaller than London" a lot calmer and a really nice place to live " Hugo articulated" "it seems you don"t get lost as much " in terms of there being so many bands in London". You only have to look at the NME"s build and cull quota to realise that he couldn"t be more astute.

While some may see London as their make"or"break scene" it is important to consider that bands such as The Futureheads "Sunderland"" The Music "Leeds" or The Zutons/ Dead 60"s/ Coral "Liverpool" have all made a massive impact on the domestic " and global scene " without a cockney swagger. Do The Maccabees see the distance as being beneficial to their growth as a indie outfit"

"Not necessarily " I think there was just something there"" Hugo says of the bands sound" "It"s sort of how we worked out and evolved as a band. We all have bands that we like " The Clash and The Strokes " but theres bands that we each individually like. I think" in an indirect way" it helps with the sound of the music".

The bands first single" "X"Ray" was released" on the now defunct" Promise label at the tail"end of 2005" with the band now signed to Fiction " home to Ian Brown" Snow Patrol et al. Whereas before this they worked with the esteemed Gil Norton on some early" abortive demos.

"The stuff we did with Gil didn"t really work out " our first time in the studio" being nervous and everything " but it worked as a learning process".

While "X"Ray" serves as a fitting calling card " all juddering guitars and vocals full of fervent energy " their recent material has seen the band find their footing proper. Songs like "About Your Dress" " detailing the first meeting of two young lovers and a cigarette singed skirt " hit home with their heartfelt paeans to youth"gone"by and first times" and although the music is full of energetic vigour" the lyricism belies their outward fervour " "You stood out like a sore thumb/ the most beautiful sore thumb I"d ever seen".

With work on their debut album well under way" with a late 2006/ early 2007 release planned" the band are keen that the electricity of their live performance carries over to the hard"copy" opting to record live instead of layering their separate parts together individually.

"We just found it easier"" Hugo admits" "to get that energy across and that"s what it was about " trying to get the live performance across rather than it sound emotionless".

With support slots with The Strokes" and sold"out shows in Brighton under their belt" the band travel to these shores on Saturday" July 8th to play the New Band Stage alongside Phoenix and Boy Kill Boy at Oxegen.

Check out www.mypace.com/Themaccabees for more information on upcoming shows and releases.

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