poppedmusic

Given To The Wild

Released January 9th 2012

No one can predict the path a band will take and that’s one of the things I love about music. There are the bands that seem to stick to the tried and tested, some that go over the top, some that lose the plot and others who just hit you smack bang between the eyes with how good they become as time goes by. The Maccabees are definitely a case of the latter. I love, and I mean love, their debut album Colour It In; it’s full of youthful exuberance, rough around the edges pop, a very English indie band indeed, so typical of the time it was released. It remains an exciting album to listen to even now. They followed this up with an equally robust indie thriller in the name of Wall Of Arms. This had hints of maturity in it and you could see them starting to play around with styles a little bit. The White Lies-esque No Kind Words was a decidedly different musical path and captured the hearts of many. The album didn’t take too much of a departure away from Colour It In, but still took some pretty hefty bites at change. Even so I can’t think of a specific track that pointed the way toward Given To The Wild.

There’s something about this album that reminds me of the transition between the first two Foals’ albums. It has a similar change in style, from the fast pace mass onslaught of noise and beats to something much more fluid and conceptual. The first single to be released from Given To The Wild is Pelican, and it’s a very clever choice. It stands out on the album as a stand alone track really. It’s the only one that captures much of their original style and vocal even. That is not to say that the rest of the album is slow with no attitude or punch. That would be entirely the wrong impression to give. It’s just that the attitude and punch has a new feel and well to say it’s brilliant in places is just a little bit of an understatement really. I wouldn’t at all be surprised if this album isn’t up for some awards this year, it certainly should be, especially a Mercury! If it’s some attitude and punch you want then look no further than Unknow. It actually leaves me feeling a little bit speechless. I’m THAT excited by it.

Grew Up By Midnight has something kind of  Coldplay about it. Hold your horses, it’s not necessarily a bad thing to say – I know there are many Coldplay haters out there as well as the lovers – this track builds and swells and moves in a similar way. The sweet notes, the highs then the lows. Also the production on it is very crisp and clean. The bass, you could blame the bass, you could blame, if that’s your choice of word, it’s not quite mine but still, you could blame all kinds of things for me comparing them even slightly.

The high vocal is something that is becoming more and more popular of late I’ve noticed and in Feel or Follow it wouldn’t feel out of place on an Everything Everything album. I cant decide which vocal style I prefer when listening to The Maccabees, but the fact there is even that option is pretty exciting. There is also plenty of that punch going around in this track. It’s very pacey but doesn’t have that original teenagery indie fury about it. Here is a track where you can really feel that the band have grown up. They’re keeping their identity with hints at the past but bringing a new maturity in the way they wear it.

Often I find that reviewing an album can be quite a chore; it’s a lot to get through, to give it justice, to enable me to have a true and honest opinion requires a lot of listening, a lot of time, effort and sometimes emotion. I hate to be disappointed, I love to find the best in everything and sometimes I revel in finding the bad. I can honestly say that I stick by what I started out by saying. This band, for me, could not have given me anything better at this point in time and they have surprised and delighted me. I feel kind of proud of them. I’ve seen them from early days to now and it’s quite something to have witnessed and I’m as pleased as punch right now!