Post-punk group Macbeth (馬克白), which quickly garnered praise for its complex, synth-heavy melodies after appearing on the indie rock scene in late 2008, will release its debut album Hands tonight with a concert at The Wall (這牆). Also appearing will be indie rockers 1976.
Macbeth is known for its offbeat rhythms and dark sounds (the group cites Joy Division, Arcade Fire and Arctic Monkey as some of its main inspirations), while 1976’s penchant is for upbeat Brit-pop. The two group’s sounds might seem disparate, but Howie Yu (余昊益), Macbeth’s guitarist and vocalist, says that he and his fellow bandmates were eager to perform with 1976 for their album release.
“In Taiwan, they are indie rock idols. They are at the very top and we’ve always looked up to them,” Yu says.
Photo Courtesy of Macbeth
Macbeth will also play in Taichung tomorrow at Sound Live House (迴響音樂藝文展演空間) with White Eyes (白目樂隊) and No Money No Honey. Its tour of the country continues next weekend with an Aug. 12 performance at TCRC (獨立音樂聯盟) in Tainan with the Heartones and Vampire Watching Television and an Aug.14 concert with My Skin Against Your Skin and Touming Magazine (透明雜誌) at The Wall Pier 2 (高雄駁二藝術特區) in Kaohsiung.
“We all appeared on the scene around the same time,” says Yu. “We’re all friends.”
During the concerts, Macbeth will not only perform all 11 tracks from Hands, but also play several of its older compositions, for a total of about 20 songs per set.
Though Macbeth’s music is usually labeled post-rock or post-punk, Yu says he rejects slotting the group into one genre.
“We don’t really label our music, other people do that for us,” he says. The band is known for its heavier, intense beats, but Yu says that Hands is meant to convey a wide range of moods. He describes one new track, Love, as a happy song.
“It’s from the heart, it’s more joyful and it has more movement,” Yu says.
For more information, visit www.macbethband.com.
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