Nu Rave Brain Wave

Brighton’s great Maccabees have announced the details of a hometown show to warm up for their Reading/Leeds Festival gigs. They’ll be playing the Concorde 2 on August 26th at 7.30pm. Tickets are £15 adv and can be bought from Monday at the regular Resident Records/Rounder Records and the above Concorde 2 website and Lout promotions website at 9.30am. The gig is for 14 year olds and older.

mp3 | The Maccabees - Boom Boom Pow (Black Eyed Peas Cover)

The Maccabees will be playing a trio of HMV in stores whilst they head up and down the country on the NME Awards Tour.

They will play:

February
5 HMV Glasgow (5pm)
15 HMV Brighton (5pm)
19 HMV Cambridge (5pm)

Tickets for the NME shows are on sale now and available here. Other bands playing the tour are: Bombay Bicycle Club, The Big Pink and The Drums.

Welcome to my top gigs of this year, 2009! I saw close to 100 which was… amazing, exciting, wonderful, whatever you want. It was tough to pick these gigs let alone put them in order but here we go….

10) Dananananaykroyd @ Dirty Dog Bar, SXSW, Austin, March 18th

Dananananaykroyd are so energetic live it’s almost unreal. They’re like the Energizer Bunny on meth or something similar and freaky. They amount of joy and humor and jumping and yelling at each gig is unreal. To add to this, this was my first show at SXSW where I got to go into a 21+ show (thnx, Sarah Pesin!) so I was even more jacked up. Hearing one of my favorite songs of the year, ‘Some Dresses’, live was just amaaazing and the Wall of Cuddles was just so excellent. Perfect way to start my SXSW 2009.

DOWNLOAD -> SOME DRESSES by DANANANANAYKROYD

9) Fool’s Gold @ The Echo, LA, April 27th

This show just fucking expanded my mind in a completely non-stoner kind of way. Each Fool’s Gold show that I’ve been to has such a wonderful sense of community and the joy just radiates from the band to the crowd, this time it was a bunch of Echo Parque hipsters who were grooving to their ‘world music’ and sensational beats and horn sections. The freedom and structured jams are what make Fool’s Gold gigs almost spiritual but without the ‘seriousness’ of that word. This was the last night of their April residency at the Echo that launched them into national view. Rightly so.

DOWNLOAD -> SURPRISE HOTEL by FOOL’S GOLD

8) King Khan & The Shrines @ The Echo, LA, May 30th

King Khan & The Shrines played two nights at the Echo in May 2009. Choosing between them was one of the toughest choices I’ve had in a long time (hello, I have an easy life!) but I think the second night trumped the first. Both had an incredible amount of energy and ridiculous outfits and organ and sax to boot. Both had King Khan being a crazy motherfucker with a voice from who knows where. What put me over the top, you ask, in favor of the second night? One of the Shrines getting up on the amp, pulling down his pants and tucking it back and waving it around during ‘I Wanna Be A Girl’. Yep, folks, that’s all it takes to sway me. Both these nights were FUCKING excellent. King Khan was one of the performers I saw most during 2009, and I bow down to him anytime I see him. So great.

DOWNLOAD -> NO REGRETS by KING KHAN & THE SHRINES

7) Beans on Toast @ Friends Bar, SXSW, Austin, March 20th

Beans on Toast has one of the greatest ethos’ in music today. He’s just a street poet who stands on a chair and plays a childs guitar and sings rudimentary songs with social and political commentary with plenty of humor and an excellent penchant for rhyming. This was such a special gig. I’ve loved his hilarious music since 2006 but had no idea who he was and thought I’d never see him live and then I met him at Jay Jay Pistolet’s gig and got to get to know the man a little – he’s such a hilarious little thing (Yeah, I’ve told this story about 1500 times but STILL), and seeing him at FRIENDS Bar just was … amazing. He’s so hilarious and the entire crowd was hanging on every word. Who else could get an entire crowd (cocaine users and non alike) to raise their hands and proudly proclaim they were addicted to cocaine?

DOWNLOAD -> FUCK THE SMOKING BAN by BEANS ON TOAST

6) The Strange Boys @ The Echo, LA, June 30th

The Strange Boys have been a live favorite of mine since early 2008. They continuously blow me away with their refreshing take on Nuggets-esque Garage Rock, their cool swagger, and Sambol’s howling caterwaul. This show was particularly amazing because of the support: The Growlers. The combination of the two was just unstoppable. The Strange Boys were way on the top of their game, but it feels weird to be going on and on about it because they are always that good. I’ve never seen them perform poorly, even the time I saw them playing in front of people playing dodgeball. No joke. The second best band in America right now – behind the Growlers. Funny how that happens.

DOWNLOAD -> DRUGS IGGY DRUGS by THE STRANGE BOYS

5) The Sonics @ The Echoplex, LA, August 21st

The Sonics. THE SONICS! I can’t even describe, figuratively or literally, what it was like to see these legends. IT’S THE FUCKING SONICS!!!! When they played ‘Have Love, Will Travel’, I was brought to my knees. They lumbered out of their coffins to give us an amazing early show at the Echoplex proving that the old timers (not to be confused with Alzheimers) still fucking GOT IT. They could actually play their instruments with dexterity, but that didn’t take away from the grungy, can’t-get-outta-the-garage, lo-fi before lo-fi was a real thing feel that has made the Sonics the legends that they are. Not to mention that Freddie Dennis can fucking sing. It was just deleriously amazing.

DOWNLOAD -> SHOT DOWN by the SONICS

4) The Maccabees @ Komedia, Brighton, September 29th

The Maccabees played a part in bringing together one of the most important friendships of my young life during their first American tour back in 2007, so seeing them play in Brighton at a much smaller venue than they could get away with – with the important friends…. just BLEW MY MIND! They fucking stormed the Komedia and played with more confidence and energy and …. experience than I’d ever have expected from them. Their second album hadn’t done anything for me up to that point, but hearing those songs echoing live and Orlando’s expansive, unique vocals really brought it together for me and from that gig, it became one of my favorite albums of 2009.

DOWNLOAD -> DIAMOND SOLITAIRE by THE MACCABEES

3) Black Lips @ Glasshouse, Pomona, May 2nd

Having severly disappointed me the evening before at The El Rey, I wasn’t expecting much out of the Black Lips. I know that’s rude, but I’d seen them like 7 times in the past 13 months or something so what more could they bring to the table? However, they came out and bounced back from the shitshow that was the El Rey and rocked my world. It was singularly the most rough, dangerous Black Lips gig I’d ever been to (bruised ribs for two weeks to prove it, ROCK AND ROLL) and Jared even stepped on my head! They played everything I wanted them to play and the energy and atmosphere, while way more rough than LA was just so much more… Black Lips! I emerged drenched with sweat, severly hurt and grinning like a maniac. That’s how I always want to leave shows.

DOWNLOAD -> NOT A PROBLEM (from LOS VALIENTES DEL MUNDO NUEVO) by THE BLACK LIPS

2) The Growlers @ Bootleg Theatre, LA, October 30th

I wish that I had taken photos of this gig. The costumes for the halloween gig were just incredible. But that’s to say nothing of the gig, which was just the best time I’ve ever seen the Growlers, who just like the Strange Boys are consistently consistent at being amazing. This gig was a two hour long Snake Sex special that saw Brooks Nielsen just act like a snake charmer – goading the audience into the most ridiculous dancing (MYSELF INCLUDED HOLY SHIT); and at the same time being charmed himself by Matt Taylor and the rest of the band. They played like a Greatest Hits (not their first album, just all their best ones) including ‘Underneath Our Palms Blues’ which saw me practically writhing on the floor from joy and amazement. And if my endorsement is not enough… Fab Moretti and Devendra were there. The Growlers are the best band in LA. Period.

DOWNLOAD -> UNDERNEATH OUR PALMS BLUES by THE GROWLERS

1) Peter Doherty @ The Roundhouse, London, September 20th

I felt really weird about making this my number one gig of the year due to the fact Doherty and I have fallen out a little bit this year, but nonetheless I’d been waiting almost 5 years to see this motherfucker turn up for a show (see: France, 2006). But he did turn up and it was beyond all my wildest dreams. We were on the left-hand side of the stage and I was peering backstage and I saw this tall man in a hat lighting a fag and I just didn’t know what to do with myself! Regardless of the fact that musically, I’ve almost moved on, Pete Doherty had a very heavy hand in shaping my world for a time and shaping my musical taste, too. Hearing songs from ‘Down in Albion’ one of my most played albums EVER just killed my heart. I was sad, to see all the production that went into his show frankly because he doesn’t need it. He doesn’t need an orchestra and five people on stage and two ballet dancers. He needs a mic and a fucking old guitar. But he has what he has, and he does what he does and he charms the bees knees off of everyone. ‘Arebours’ and ‘the 32nd of December’ and ‘For Lovers’? I have been and always will be a P.Doh fan and this sealed my fate: the most excellent concert of 2009.

DOWNLOAD -> A FOOL THERE WAS by PETER DOHERTY

I’d like to take this time to say, OMG! This is the first announcement of a tour that actually falls during the first couple weeks I’ll be in England. And before I read it, I got so excited!!! And then, I look at the dates and GASP. No Brighton date. That’s some bullshit, Maccabees, you are a Brighton band.

The dates are….
Bristol O2 Academy (September 30)
Birmingham O2 Academy (October 1)
Norwich UEA (2)
London O2 Academy Brixton (3)
Nottingham Rock City (5)
Manchester Academy (6)
Newcastle O2 Academy (7)
Glasgow ABC (9)
Leeds O2 Academy (10)

The Maccabees are going to be playing at Sister Ray Records in London this Saturday at 6 p.m (18th April.) They will be performing as part of the ‘Record Store Day’ which is happening in support of independent record shops worldwide. To coincide with our performance we are going to be offering the chance to pre-order a signed copy of our new single ‘Love You Better’ which will be delivered to your door on the day of its release, 27th April. If you would like to come down to the Instore performance, you must pick up a wrist band from the shop during the day to make sure you have a chance of getting in to the Instore…the shop opens at 10 a.m and is located here: 34-35 Berwick Street London, W1F 8RP. You will not be able to go to the Instore without a wrist band so make sure you register during the day.

“We’ve made the best record we possibly could have done,” explained guitarist, Hugo White. “We did it in a three-month period but we travelled around a lot. Started off in Liverpool, did three weeks there, and then we went to Paris for a month.

“We didn’t want to feel too trapped but we wanted to keep it together – just the five of us. So we got a house in Paris and it was amazing.”

mp3 | No Kind Words by the Maccabees

Click the photo for the larger version of the UK tour….

Studio Update: Part 2 from Paris…

Hello everybody.

We’re in Paris, finishing the record… Yes! It’s freezing but beautiful. We have an amazing house for three weeks; it’s got a spiral staircase and a tree. We’ll take that. Every morning we walk through ‘Pere La Chaise’ cemetery to get to the studio which is really something. Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde are buried there. There’s something proper peaceful about walking through it, but I’ve been listening to Wu Tang Clan on the walk the last few days which doesn’t really compliment the poignancy. We’re getting really good at French. Really good. We’ve absolutely nailed ‘ca va et toi?’ and can do ‘oui oui oui’ with real assuredness now. The rest is a bit of a mystery. Luckily Sam, drumming on this record, is fluent. Which has turned out to be a bit of a burden for him probably?

Blood Red Shoes and Peggy Sue played here yesterday and so of course we went, the gig was great, we were all so impressed to see Blood Red Shoes pulling such a crowd in Paris. A real achievement. While they were here, we got Peggy sue and Laura Mary down to sing a few bits on a couple of the songs which we’re all well happy with. So for the first time we have some new voices on a record. It’s all change. The album is coming along well, we’re starting to hear it all take shape now and it’s finally feeling like the year of really holing ourselves up writing and writing and writing has paid off. We’ve recorded 14 songs. Don’t know how many will end up being on there though.

Having done most of his bass parts, Ru has had to look for other things to do. He’s got the bass line to Deal or No Deal down. In the pocket. We were all taken aback that he has also, overnight, become a huge AC/DC fan. He spends his days in the ‘experimental’ room with a drum machine working out Back in Black. He reckons he’ll have the solos sorted by the end of the three weeks. We wait with baited breath. Hugo continues his search for barbecue sauce and amuses himself by asking ‘ou est l’office de tourisme’ whenever he gets the chance. That’s about it. I’m writing for something to do while Lando is singing, once he’s done we should have the first little set of songs done.

I’ll write again in the next couple of weeks when the whole record should be finished!!

Felix

x
P.S Here is a video update from the studio in Liverpool…It contains a small recording of one of the new songs for the album…

Hello Everyone,

We are in the studio…at last! Sorry to everyone who thought we’d be in quicker, we thought we would be too. It’s been a year of getting the songs sorted, but in terms of being written they’re all there! We promised ourselves we weren’t going to make a dud second record and have had to take a little bit longer than intended to make sure that’s the case. We’ve been here for a few days and we’re really proud of all the songs we’re going to record. There’s a definite ‘feel’ that ties all the songs together and listening back to them, they makes the old songs seem comparatively two dimensional. It feels exciting, which I suppose should be the point. Markus Dravs is producing. He’s taken to calling Ru ‘Rupee’, which makes him the only person that isn’t Ru’s Mum that does so. I think he may have had enough for tonight; we finished immediately after Hugo suggested we find some mice and teach them the guitar and drums.

So far we have learned don’t put fairy liquid in the dishwasher. It goes wrong. Really wrong if you put too much in…and the ‘Hogs Head’ isn’t the best place to go for a drink.

I think there’ll be a few video clips of us in the studio over the next six weeks. Other than that we’ve sort of been in hibernation when it comes to gigs etc… I’m sure some of you who might have liked to have seen us will appreciate there’s no point of touring properly if we haven’t made the best record we possibly can.

I can’t stop listening to Roots Manuva at the moment, went to see him in Brighton a few weeks ago and it was way more exciting than most of the guitar bands I’ve seen recently. ‘La Shark’ and ‘The Golden Silvers’ are our favourite new bands we’ve seen, I think the Golden Silvers have been supporting Mystery Jets recently… they’ve got a well good song that goes ‘Today I felt it go for good, last night I thought it was invincible’… can’t remember the name of it though. La Shark have to be seen live to be believed, they are incredible!
If any of you are around try to catch the Derek Meins/ Peggy Sue tour too. Lando is busy doing artwork for a few of our mates in his spare time, I’m not sure if I can tell you who they are though. But it looks great.
Anyways, just thought we should at least let you know that we’re busy and will have recorded this album by the end of the year. Take care and all of that, I’ll write again soon….
Felix x