THE MACCABEES – WALL OF ARMS
The Maccabees’s garnered not a small bit of praise from British press like NME with their debut Colour It In – all the standard indie rock features that made that album a reasonable listen are present here on Wall of Arms. There’s the disco-punk drumming, layered guitars, kraut-y whole band arrangements that seem to be all the rage in the UK of late. What’s nice to hear here is a bit of darkness. The Smiths influence on One Hand Holding, for example, is a welcome let up from the rest of the post-Strokes, semi-quaver riffs, and the opener Love You Better owes quite a bit to the melancholy epic of the Arcade Fire. Despite this kind of variety, it’s not a very satisfying album. One gets the feeling that we’ve heard this all before; it’s got something to do with Olando Week’s clichéd lyrics, sure, even his monotonic Morrisey-cribbing performances, but by this point, it feels like this genre of grand, dance-y, emotionally-available indie rock has run its course. It’s this horrible genus of bands, mediocre enough to be big, interesting enough to be called indie. For all its slight charms, Wall of Arms has got as much staying power as Vampire Weekend; no-one remembers who they are, right?
*1/2
