It might have taken slightly longer than expected but finally, three albums in, The Maccabees seem to be fulfilling the untapped potential which saw the music press proclaim them to be the saviours of the indie rock movement in the UK. Their 2007 debut Colour It In, as well as its subsequent follow-up Wall of Arms two years later, both gave glimpses of substance but by the time both of these albums had run their course, the listener was left with a vague sense of incompletion. Finally, with their new album Given To The Wild, The Maccabees have put some significant meat on the bones of their music. And it sounds great.
If you had a complaint about the first two Maccabees albums (and a lot of people did, apparently) it may well have been that too many of their songs start of promisingly, before ultimately veering off course and finishing up in no man's land. This is distinctly not the case with Given To The Wild. The majority of its songs are satisfying and, not only that, are seen through from start to finish with a single-mindedness that perhaps was lacking from their repertoire up until recently. Several of the album's songs, particularly 'Forever I've Known, 'Feel To Follow' and ' Child', definitely separate them from the majority of the indie rock drudgery, a quicksand trap that so many bands dive headfirst into never to return from. This could well be the album that The Maccabees have been trying to make since 2007.
