The Maccabees (band)
The Maccabees (band)
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The Maccabees (band)

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The Maccabees (band)

The Maccabees are an English indie rock band, formed in 2004 in London. The band consists of Orlando Weeks (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Felix White (guitar, backing vocals), Hugo White (guitar, backing vocals), Rupert Jarvis (bass) and Sam Doyle (drums).

During the band's initial run, they released four studio albums: Colour It In in 2007, followed by Wall of Arms in 2009, Given to the Wild which was released on 9 January 2012 and their last album Marks to Prove It released on 31 July 2015. The band announced their decision to disband in August 2016, with farewell gigs taking place in 2017.

On 25 October 2024, it was announced that the band were reuniting after seven years of inactivity.

The band came up with the name by flicking through books, including the Bible, and looking at names. Despite adopting a name with perceived religious connotations, lead singer Orlando Weeks has more recently affirmed, in an interview on Steve Lamacq's BBC 6 Music show, that none in the band is religious.[disputeddiscuss]

Their debut single, "X-Ray", was released on Promise records on 28 November 2005, and received some evening play on London radio station Xfm London. They received little significant exposure, however, until six months later, when they released their second single, "Latchmere", the subject of which is the wave machine at the Latchmere Leisure Centre in Battersea, South London, on Fierce Panda Records in April 2006. This was championed by Radio 1 DJ Steve Lamacq and received airtime on MTV2. The video, directed by Hugh Frost and Samuel Bebbington, also proved an internet hit after it was posted on YouTube. They had their first taste of festivals by playing on the Carling stage of the Leeds/Reading festival in 2006.

The band were signed to major label Fiction Records, and released their debut album Colour It In in May 2007. Because an early copy of the album appeared on the New York Times website, Colour It In became available to download exclusively from iTunes on 16 December, before its physical release on 14 May, in an effort to combat the leak. The single "First Love" was their first to chart in the UK top 40, and was followed by "About Your Dress", which peaked at No. 33. Their album received positive reviews, and charted at No. 24. They then toured the United States with fellow indie group Bloc Party. A full UK tour followed from October 2007, culminating in a sell-out show at the Roundhouse venue in London.

On the run-up to the release of their second album, the band played two new songs to Steve Lamacq on his "In New Music We Trust" show on Radio 1 in May 2008, "No Kind Words" and "Young Lions". The band also played a string of small venues in the UK to test out new songs, in March and April 2008. The Maccabees performed at Offset Festival in London as well the Underage Festival in August 2008.

On Zane Lowe's Radio 1 show in February 2009, Felix confirmed the name of the follow-up album to be Wall of Arms, an announcement that coincided with the release of the free downloadable track, "No Kind Words". On 16 March, Radio 1 DJ Steve Lamacq played the band's first single from Wall of Arms entitled Love You Better, the video to which was posted exclusively on ClashMusic.com on 27 March.

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