The Maccabees - Wall of Arms, Review.

I have been wanting to review this album from the first time I listened to it. The Maccabees have taken the gauntlet of being just another 'indie' band(even though there is no such thing as an 'indie' genre, two bands can be 'indie' whilst having completely different styles) and ripped through this preconditioned label. There is no doubting Markus Dravs(producer) played a vital role in this, developing on Colour It In's youthful, carefree sound and making it bigger, larger, grander, whatever you want to call it.
Wall of Arms is a seamless album, no track sounds out of place and no lyric is not well written. Just as Dravs input has given The Maccabees increased street cred, and has widened their compositional abilities, Orlando Weeks' development as a lyricist runs parallel to this. What was "Latchmere's, got a wave machine," in Colour It In becomes, "Your carbon makes a star/ Your carbon makes a star/ And after all that's all we are." in Wall of Arms. While their theme was carefree and relationship based in their debut, epitomised by what is still probably their biggest hit, Toothpaste Kisses, Weeks delved lightly into serious themes, singing in All in Your Rows, "So here's your church, and here's your steeple/ And you're locking your doors to keep in all the people." - But in Wall of Arms he goes all out, "Through these eyes/ There's no god above me/ No devil below me, no purgatory, no pearly gates/ The worms are what await me." The maturing of lyrics has also been matched with the development of the actual musicianship, big sounds with horns, spacey guitar riffs and intricate progressive drum beats as well as stints of acapella break songs up and build songs up with a skill that wasn't apparent on their first effort.
While what makes this album such an achievement is the sheer amount by which they have improved, they have raised expectations greatly and to follow this up with a third album of 11 similar songs would be a major disappointment. They have set the bar very high, hopefully they have some more tricks up their sleeves for whenever #3 comes about. One of the best albums, if not the best album, of 2009.

RATING: 9.6/10