The Maccabees - Wall of Arms

Opening up with Love You Better you would think that The Maccabees have completely changed their style. This is a slow track but what first struck me is the change in production. It is huge sounding and it reminds me of White Lies and Arcade Fire with the layered vocals and almost epic sounding guitars.

Fortunatly tracks like One Hand Holding, Can You Give It, Kiss and Revolve, and my personal favourite Young Lions are back to typical Maccabees territory with tracks aimed squarely at live shows except combined with the big production they sound fantastic!

Recent live opener No Kind Words is half way through the album and I think that should have been the first track on the album. It starts off slow with slightly echoed vocals then the fast guitars and drumming comes in. The album's title track slows down the pace and it shows off the expansive production. Dinosaurs and Bag of Bones are also slower more experimental tracks.

Overall I would say this is better than their last album Colour It In and the more uptempo tracks sound fantastic live and on CD.

8 out of 10