1
 
The Maccabees
Marks to Prove It

The Maccabees — Marks to Prove It (31st July 2015)

   The Maccabees — Marks to Prove It (31st July 2015)The Maccabees — Marks to Prove It (31st July 2015)♠  #1 Best Seller
♠  Marks to Prove It není koruna slávy, ale je to akumulace všech věcí, které jsme od Maccabees vychutnávali už v minulosti. Má živý a bouřlivý titulární singl se stejnou atmosférou jako "Feel to Follow" (z předešlého alba Given to the Wild). Takže všechno dobře. Pak jsou tu citlivé, reflexivní a příjemné tracky, jaké obsahuje předchozí album taky. Je to stejné, ale o něco víc gut. Pevné, rozvinuté a uspokojující.
♠  Za £24.99 vinyl nebo za £9.99 cd máš na stole. Mne se líbí album jako celek, drží pohromadě, vybalancováno tichými piano písněmi jako třeba Silence (3:20) nebo Slow Sun (4:13). Orlando Weeks je všude excelentní.
♠  U.K. indie rock outfit formed in London in 2004, led by singer and guitarist Orlando Weeks. Formed: 2004 in South London, England
Location: South West London, UK
Album release: 31st July 2015
Record Label: Fiction
Duration:     41:22
Tracks:
01. Marks to Prove It     4:15
02. Kamakura     4:00
03. Ribbon Road     4:24
04. Spit It Out     5:09
05. Silence     3:20
06. River Song     3:11
07. Slow Sun     4:13
08. Something Like Happiness     3:44
09. WW1 Portraits     3:19
10. Pioneering Systems     2:31
11. Dawn Chorus     3:20
℗ 2015 Fiction Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited.
Personnel:
♠  Orlando Weeksvocals (2004–present). He was educated at Highgate School and the University of Brighton.
♠  Hugo White — guitars (2004–present)
♠  Felix Whiteguitars, backing vocals (2004–present). He attended Alleyn's School.
♠  Rupert Jarvis — bass (2004–present)
♠  Sam Doyle — drums (2008–present)
♠  Will White — keyboards and samplers (2010–present)REVIEW
BY GEORGE MEIXNER, 24 JULY 2015, 09:30 BST;  SCORE: 8
BEST FIT ALBUM OF THE WEEK
♠  As The Maccabees return for their fourth studio album, they’re still curiously preoccupied with searching for purpose. This is a strange doubt for a band that is increasingly acquiring Establishment status. Marks To Prove It shows many signs of confidence despite the self-deprecation and is aptly less wild than album three.
♠  The South London quintet has often been accused of sheepishness. They're a comparatively shy bunch, but it is the claim that they are followers rather than innovators that wrankles. The latest record is distinctly Maccabean as they seem to settle further into their own skin. It is broadly similar to Given To The Wild — which is no bad thing — yet it condenses and simplifies what they are best at. Naturally a more assured set of tracks has emerged, at least in production if not content, with clamorous tearing climaxes in "Marks To Prove It", "Kamakura" and "Spit It Out" set alongside soft–edged "Something Like Happiness", "Silence" and the finale "Dawn Chorus".♠  It’s as though Orlando and co. used to have something which they could tenuously hold onto in previous albums, but here they’ve lost it and the new music is more about grasping but not quite reaching. They have written a series of cautionary tales, almost in resignation. However the act spins full circle as this self–examination appears to cement a sense of identity rather than prove they no longer have one. According to the band, the recording process was more arduous than anticipated, with long hours spent in their Elephant & Castle–based studio, writing within the same walls and drawing from the local hustle and bustle. ♠  Evidently, in their music videos to date, the surrounding South West London ribbon development is a source of inspiration to the band. The otherwise ‘unsightly’ roundabout which is the backdrop for so many London bus switch–stops and passers–though is glorified in the visuals accompanying Marks To Prove It. Urban sprawl affects the aesthetic of an area as well as its indigenous makeup. A rejuvenation project is set to gentrify the transport hub and force a radically altered identity. So much for the London housing lecture — tune back in for the punch line. You could argue that The Maccabees are reacting to changes around them by staying true to themselves. Resisting a modernity that insists on "marks to prove" ones existence; to "take a photo" only to "come back years on/ and wonder why you took it", the songwriting reaches out for things that last, things that you can hold on to.
♠  With a total of 41 minutes across 11 songs, there’s a general sign of tightening up on any excess basggage they were carrying. When things around you are changing, it seems they are sticking to what they know. The filmic quality to song construction remains. "Marks To Prove It" has a discordant sequence that spirals downwards disturbingly, like Alice falling down the rabbit hole. "Ribbon Road" begins with an eerie silence slowly filled with a metallic rattling like old railway lines, while "Spit It Out" opens with a delicate combination of haunting vocals and keyboards before the drums slowly clamber into view as they form the shape of the song... this shape admittedly does look a bit like early Arcade Fire.
♠  In the second half of the album there is an exponential increase in the brass section. This works really well on "River Song", spilling over into "Slow Sun" with the added element of bluesy guitar and returning for "Dawn Chorus". On "Slow Sun" Weeks sings “cup of tea for ya / there on the sofa” with the refrain “that’s real love”. From the tone, this is more like something they don’t have any more, a lament. ♠  “Heaven forbid there is opportunities missed” and “when you’re scared and lost / don’t let it all build up” are lyrics that are saddening not only for the sense of loss, but put with the entirety of "Something Like Happiness" which imagines what happiness must look like to others, underlines its absence.
♠  Marks To Prove It is not a crowning glory, but it is an accumulation of all the things that we enjoy from The Maccabees. It has a romping titular single, which has the same vibe as "Feel To Follow", also a great single, so all good. Then there are the tender, reflective and gently unfurled tracks that backload the previous album too. It’s the same but slightly more so. Solid and satisfying. ♠ http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/Artist Biography by Marisa Brown
♠  Hailing from South London, kinetic indie rockers the Maccabees formed in 2004 around vocalist Orlando Weeks, guitarists Hugo and Felix White, bassist Rupert Jarvis, and drummer Robert Dylan Thomas. The group's first single, "X–Ray," was released on Promise Records in November of 2005, and thanks to a strong XFM–Radio showing, the Maccabees were able to garner opening spots on an Arctic Monkeys tour. Fierce Panda picked up the second single, "Latchmere," issuing it in the spring of 2006. The band's full–length debut, Colour It In, came out on Fiction Records a year later. Thomas left the band in 2008 and Sam Doyle was recruited to step in behind the kit. ♠  For their second album, 2009's Wall of Arms, the band worked with producer Markus Dravs, who also collaborated with the Arcade Fire. Main stage slots at the Reading and Leeds Festivals would follow, then the band took two years off to write and record. The results, the album Given to the Wild and its lead single, "Pelican," arrived in early 2012. The LP hit the Top Five in the U.K. and received a Mercury Award nomination for album of the year. The Maccabees started recording their fourth full–length in 2013, but after citing struggles settling on a production style, no new material appeared until the single "Marks to Prove It" arrived in May 2015. Attempting a sound closer to their live performances than on prior albums, the more immediate Marks to Prove It followed in late July.Discography:
♠  Colour It In (2007)
♠  Wall of Arms (2009)
♠  Given to the Wild (2012)
♠  Marks to Prove It (2015)
CURRENT TOUR:
♠  SAT 1 AUG 2015 AVIEMORE, SCOTLAND GENTLEMEN OF THE ROAD STOPOVER 
♠  WED 5 AUG 2015 NOTTINGHAM ROUGH TRADE
♠  WED 5 AUG 2015 MANCHESTER FOPP
♠  THU 6 AUG 2015 BRIGHTON RESIDENT
♠  THU 6 AUG 2015 LONDON HMV
♠  SAT 8 AUG 2015 ROMANIA SUMMER WELL FESTIVAL
♠  THU 13 AUG 2015 BUDAPEST, HUNGARY SZIGET FESTIVAL
♠  FRI 14 AUG 2015 PIESTANY, SLOVAKIA GRAPE FESTIVAL
♠  THU 20 AUG 2015 KRAKOW, POLAND KRAKOW LIVE FESTIVAL
♠  FRI 21 AUG 2015 BERLIN, GERMANY HEIMATHAFEN
♠  SAT 22 AUG 2015 HASSELT, BELGIUM PUKKELPOP FESTIVAL
♠  SUN 23 AUG 2015 NETHERLANDS LOWLANDS FESTIVAL
♠  FRI 28 AUG 2015 LEEDS, UK LEEDS FESTIVAL
♠  SAT 29 AUG 2015 PARIS, FRANCE ROCK EN SEINE
♠  SUN 30 AUG 2015 READING, UK READING FESTIVAL
♠  FRI 2 OCT 2015 AUSTIN, TX, USA AUSTIN CITY LIMITS
Website: http://www.themaccabees.co.uk/
_____________________________________________________________

The Maccabees
Marks to Prove It

 

ALBUM COVERS XI.