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The Maccabees

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Reunited South London five-piece whose thirteen-year run moved from nervy, chiming guitar songs to something far grander and more communal.

The Maccabees came together in South London in 2004 around brothers Hugo and Felix White, singer Orlando Weeks, bassist Rupert Jarvis and drummer Sam Doyle. The band's name came from flicking through books, including the Bible, though none of the members is religious.

Their debut single, "X-Ray," passed with little notice in 2005, but the follow-up, "Latchmere," a song about the wave machine at a Battersea leisure centre, caught the attention of Radio 1's Steve Lamacq and MTV2, becoming an early online hit. Signed to Fiction Records, the band built its sound on quick, treble-heavy guitar lines and Weeks's high, slightly frayed voice.

Debut album Colour It In appeared in May 2007, reaching number 24 in the UK despite leaking early online, and led to a support tour with Bloc Party and a sold-out show at London's Roundhouse. The follow-up, Wall of Arms, released in 2009, went to number 13 and earned an 8/10 review from NME.

Given to the Wild followed in 2012 and Marks to Prove It in 2015, records that slowed the songs down and thickened them, favouring layered arrangements, brass and long builds. The band announced its split in August 2016, played farewell shows in 2017, and reunited in October 2024 after seven years apart. Weeks has since released solo work, and the White brothers have worked in production and other projects.

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