No one was crying - they simply got a little something in their eye

Continuing my trip back through the 2015 album charts.

07/08/15 : Marks To Prove It - The Maccabees

I know The Maccabees were around for a few years and I know I've liked some of their stuff, but not all of it - so who knows what we've got here!

Hmmm - it's not their best work for me. It's not terrible - if you like Doves or Foals, then it's very much that kind of thing but this just feels very low-key, with everything seeming to be low in the mix. It feels like you can barely hear the instruments and you certainly can't make out the vocals - I guess that's the effect they were going for, but it doesn't work for me. Maybe it would be a grower, but I'm afraid it's certainly not going to get a chance.

We're at #1 with a new entry this week on the start of a much longer than I expected nine week run and the rest of the top five were Lianne La Havas (another new entry), Years & Years, Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith. We have one more new entry in the top ten for Led Zeppelin (#9), which is a bit of a surprise, but not nearly as surprising as also seeing them at #10 and #12 as well - this was all related to the release of remastered versions.

Unsurprisingly, Wikipedia doesn't have a huge amount on the album - it was their fourth and final album and apparently it pays tribute to the Elephant & Castle area of London (and why wouldn't it?). The critics were nice enough about it, but there's no word on commercial performance - so I think it's fair to assume it did nothing away from these shores.

"Customers also listened to" Bombay Bicycle Club, 86TVs, Orlando Weeks and The Mystery Jets - most of whom I can tell you absolutely nothing about. And it's not like I'm an expert on The Maccabees, but I can tell you I've preferred the other stuff of theirs I've heard to this. Oh well - you can't win 'em all!

31/07/15 - Interesting if not their absolute best
14/08/15 - Surprisingly tolerable