Tag Archives: the maccabees

My iPod #483: The Maccabees – Happy Faces

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Orlando Weeks implores you to ‘run, boy, run’ throughout the ninth song on The Maccabees’ debut Colour It In, and it is hard to not follow his demands due to the sheer positivity and good vibes the track exudes. You ever have one of those times when you feel so happy that you have to show it by running through a field and embracing the vast space ahead, behind, and around you? This is very much the song that plays whilst that situation is happening.

Whilst the final notes of the previous track are in the midst of fading out to silence, the guitars of “Happy Faces” quietly start playing and slowly make themselves heard until the rhythm section begin and really give the track its momentum that is maintained for its duration. Lyrically, there’s not much to say. It’s about being happy for no particular reason at all. Just one of those days when that feeling comes to you. Well the first verse is. The second ones concerns the days when things aren’t going so well, the ones on which you reflect on what could have been different in the past. The serious tone is gone by the last line and from then on it’s back to the all-out excitement that was playing beforehand, climaxing in an almighty yelp of the song’s title by Weeks before the closing moments.

It’s cute. Very enjoyable.

My iPod #461: The Maccabees – Good Old Bill

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Sorry there was a no show yesterday. Was out watching Shakespeare at the RSC Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon. Much Ado about Nothing, if you wanted the specifics. Was really good. But you get two posts today. So it’s all good.

If it turns out that the new album by The Maccabees – which is supposedly finished and should be out sometime this year – isn’t that great, I think I will always recognise Colour It In as being my most preferred album of theirs. Before they went on to discover more atmospheric productions for Wall of Arms before establishing that sound in 2012’s Given to the Wild, the band’s first album captured the five members in their most…. naked form I guess you could say.

And “Good Old Bill” starts it all off. Though it is left off of the international versions of Colour It In, which I don’t really understand. The track is about a member of the band’s grandfather – who we can assume his name was Bill – sadly passed away after giving a traction engine to a museum. On the day he died, the museum rang up their grandmother saying that engine wasn’t working and asked if Bill could come up to have a look at it. The engine wouldn’t start without him.

Still, the song brightly begins the album despite the sad context. Set to a sprightly 6/8 time signature for the majority, “Good Old Bill” gives an introduction to all the members from the mood-settling guitar work of the White brothers to the trademark whimpering vocals of Orlando Weeks. After a minute and a half and a few mysterious seconds of silence, three sudden smacks of the snare and open hi-hat signifies the song’s ending in which fast 4/4 tempo is introduced, the performance becomes more energetic and brighter with joyous choral ‘oooh’ vocals bringing it to a satisfying close.

So yeah. That’s “Good Old Bill”. Been good since I heard the album exclusive on NME all those years ago.

My iPod #277: The Maccabees – Dinosaurs

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Being a great fan of “Colour It In“, I was a bit disappointed with “Wall of Arms“. “Love You Better” was the album’s first single. I thought it was…. alright. But it wasn’t as fun as “About Your Dress” or “First Love” for example. Then I bought the album from HMV, listened and realised….. The Maccabees were trying to achieve a larger sound with more of an atmospheric production and an expansive sound scape with their second album. The album’s producer Markus Dravs worked on other albums which set out to do the same thing. But, unlike The Horrors did at about the same time, it didn’t leave that much of an impact on me….. except for “Dinosaurs”. If I haven’t listened to the album enough, then “Dinosaurs” is a reason why I should “Wall of Arms” another go.

Beginning with quiet guitars with a steady drum roll, “Dinosaurs” kicks into gear when the horns (yes, horns) start blaring out the melody simultaneously with the lead guitar. The brass instruments really make this song shine, making it sound very bright and triumphant. Things quieten down for the verses where Orlando Week’s signature whimpering vocals come in, and then slowly build in volume until the main line “Restore this cracked soul” is yelled and the melody from the intro is played again. The song has no real chorus and only a small reference to the song title is made, but that’s pretty irrelevant. “Dinosaurs” is very nice. It comes to a climax with the guitar solo in the last 20 seconds, which apparently contains the first string bend in a Maccabees song, bringing the track to an exciting finish.

Still not sure about “Wall of Arms”…. I’ll see how it goes.