THE MACCABEES are back again boasting numerous new songs from their latest album Wall of Arms which is out on May 4th. Latest single ‘No Kind Words’ did a decent job of starting off the set with its simple yet epic qualities of echoing guitars, simple drums and Orlando’s vibrato voice coming together in one brainstorming union; after releasing the track for free from their website it seemed everyone had taken advantage of the offer and all knew the lyrics.

Next up, two old favourites: ‘Lego’ and ‘X-ray’ were played with true tenacity provoking a colossal response from the audience. One thing’s for sure, THE MACCABEES don’t worsen with age, instead, they mature into something beautiful; this gap between debut album Colour It In and Wall of Arms has seen the band evolve into a big pillar supporting the music scene.

The evidence is in the new songs they played, ‘Young lions’ is a lyrical masterpiece with a chirping melody to get anyone dancing and a song which I’m sure will be huge once released. ‘The pound is strong’ is an audacious attempt towards diversity with Orlando stepping back from the microphone to play an accordion with Felix taking up the vocals. ’17 Hands’ is the perfect summer anthem with a slow opening building up to a climatic finish with Orlando’s magnificently unique vocals holding together three different guitar riffs to lead your ears to ecstasy. ‘Can you give it’ is more of a simple affair with a chorus of “can you give it” repeated, however it is in no way a boring song, with a strong bass line and high pitched guitars, it shows what THE MACCABEES are all about. Final song of the night was ‘Love you better’, the best sounding of the new songs. It shows that a brilliant song can come out of the bare minimum, the entire band playing to their best and the lyrics speaking for themselves.

Other appearances within the set from Colour It In include ‘Toothpaste kisses’, ‘Mary’, and ‘Precious time’ which were all typically brilliant and just show that in no way will the old material be forgotten. Some people argue that the album could have been released a long time ago, especially considering that most of the new songs heard were played at the same venue about a year ago, however I believe that now the new material has been perfected properly, Wall of Arms is going to be a strong contender for album of 2009. In the end, after their tantalising performance, I only have kind words to say.

Rating: 4.5/5.0

Review by Alex Duncalf