Given to the Wild Fiction***

Wherefore art thou, indie rock, in 2012? It’s all pop music at our gaff, and if it ain’t pop then it’s little tykes such as Azealia Banks. So where precisely does a substantial indie act like

The Maccabees stand? Well, judging from the south London band's third album, it seems they stand right in the centre of the room, giving doubters the middle finger. While it's true that there isn't anything on Given to the Wildthat would give acts such as Editors or Interpol (or, indeed, Maccabees' contemporaries Foals, Bombay Bicycle Club or Everything Everything) sleepless nights, there are enough smart art-rock ideas and anthemic guitar-pop songs to keep the home fires burning. Tunes such as Feel to Follow(key words: propulsive, surge) and Pelican(key words: melody, groove) steer clear of adding to indie rock's landfill of crushed hopes and just-not- good-enough song structures. themaccabees.co.uk

Download tracks: Glimmer, Feel to Follow, Pelican