Wild Beasts - Limbo Panto

Okay just like Two Dancers this has grown on me a lot after a few plays. It's a really beautiful record and they really are one of the best bands out there.

thx own

ppl who are listening to this record, does it have a game-changer on it like two dancers i & ii was in the middle of the last record? or does it just kind of do its thing?

It's subtle, low-key and very much of a specific mood.

I read them describe Two Dancers as a night out and Smother as pillow talk.

In tone it's similar to a record like Yo La Tengo's And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out IMO.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/79/18294_158867.jpg

Smother is the upcoming and third studio album by British indie rock band Wild Beasts. The album will be released on May 10, 2011 on Domino.

Track listing:

1. Lion's Share - 4:14
2. Bed of Nails - 4:18
3. Deeper - 3:01
4. Loop the Loop - 4:06
5. Plaything - 4:21
6. Invisible - 2:58
7. Albatross - 3:12
8. Reach a Bit Further - 3:36
9. Burning - 4:44
10. End Come Too Soon - 7:32

Ah yes, the new member is Katie from Sky Larkin.

I'm surprised how much I love Albatross now, I was so underwhelmed the first few times I heard it. It really works in the context of the album and but not as a single. I think the record company will struggle to find any singles on the album this time.

Loop the Loop is my favourite song at the moment, one of the best things they've done. Also really liking Burning, it reminds me of something Bjork might come up with.

Loving this so far. "Loop the Loop" is my fave for the moment but I'm pretty sure this is the kind of album where each song will be a fave at one point or the other. I'm hearing a bit of Junior Boys in the slinky sound they've perfected.

That was my first thought too - interviewed them a couple of years ago, and the one album they all agreed on was Junior Boys. Smother has really grown on me last couple of weeks - wish there were more Tom tracks, though: "Invisible" is stellar.

yeah and I guess the JB remix of Fun Powder Plot also helped make that connection more obvious

This band is amazing.

Colour Of Spring, Long Fin Killie, David Sylvain, all sorts of things. Smother is wondrous.

Mix in a bit of Blue Nile as well. My first listen went from "Hmmm, not sure" to "Wow, this really is a remarkable work" fairly quickly!

http://stereogum.com/702502/wild-beasts-smother-inspiration-mixtape/mp3s/

i was supposed to see them for the first time this Friday but a stupid work mission will prevent me from going. so gutted

Colour Of Spring

There was a Guardian piece the other day where they said Talk Talk were their collective favourite band or words to that effect.

this has too many 'the chorus is the song title' songs

That's bad?

Mix in a bit of Blue Nile as well. My first listen went from "Hmmm, not sure" to "Wow, this really is a remarkable work" fairly quickly!

― Gerald McBoing-Boing

I agree with all of this. It took about two days from thinking this is just quite pleasant to this is probably the album of the year.

I found the last one deathly dull. Is this much different?

I'd say if you didn't like Two Dancers there's not much chance you would like this one.

Just out of interest did you give the last album quite a few plays? cause it was such a grower and so is this one.

I found the last one deathly dull. Is this much different?

Last one is anything but dull.

I'll give you guys the benefit of the doubt and give it another go. But I fear I'm not that up for Elbowish mood-rock at the moment *ducks*

Way more energetic than Elbow.

Well, last album was. This new one has less energy and discord, but is still very direct.

I was just re-listening to Long Fin Killie for the first time in years when the new one came out, so that popped up in my mind right away.

this one is better than Two Dancers. i still miss old, very different 1st album Wild Beasts. shame we'll never get that band back but some of their very best stuff is on this one.

this one is just so lush - can't understand some of the skepticism around "Albatross" which is simply gorgeous and a pretty good summary of what this album is about.

It is, but on first hearing of Albatross in isolation I just went 'meh' at it; it needs context, for me.

showing up The Strokes this evening on bbc telly! surprised to hear unofficial 5th member lady singing along.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpKzqulSFo4

http://sickmouthy.com/2011/05/21/wild-beasts-smother/

what's that a link to

My blog.

oh

Oh. What were you hoping for?

new album is great!

this is so good

Two Dancers > Smother > Limbo, Panto

All very very good though.

loving the new album and they were charming and poised in concert last night. Fine band

performance at field day v good, made me feel better about smother, reminded me to get tickets well in advance of their gig here

i think it's a little sad that an indie band who are remarkable & good (yeah, yeah, i know) don't warrant a new thread for the new album on ilx these days

also -- i thought hayden was the mostly-falsetto singer and mostly the guitar player, and fleming was the mostly-gruff singer and mostly the bass player? have they swapped? that's kind of cool, if they have swapped

Here's where I confess that I didn't know there were two singers as they sound quite similar - I thought it was one bloke operating at different pitches. Oops.

[I didn't know until last night, that is]

I love thsi band. Not fussed by the debut, but Two Dancers and Smother are both awesome. These guys and These New Puritans make me feel very positive about young men in bands making music in 2011.

I'm with Nick, Wild Beasts surely are one of the best bands on go. The vast territory they have covered in their brief 3 year lifespan so far is staggering. I heard 'Two Dancers' first and as such I've never quite seen 'Limbo Panto' as the masterful debut some others claim it to be. I do think it's great but I prefer Wild Beasts when they are more restrained and less bombastic and the near constant theatricality of 'Limbo Panto' irritates me sometimes if I'm honest.

With that in mind I'm utterly besotted with 'Smother'. It's a well balanced album all round but the stretch from 'Albatross' to the 'End Comes Too Soon' compromises an absolutely faultlessly beautiful suite of songs. I've been known to gripe a little at all the supposed similarities with later era Talk Talk which, aside of the atmospheric build in at the end of the final track, I find difficult to hear. I know it's pretty anal as far as comparisons go but I think someone in this thread said it sounded more like The Blue Nile and as subtle as it seems that's a lot closer to the mark for me. I'd love the see the band venture more towards the Talk Talk side of things on their next album although the shift in restrained dynamics in their songwriting between the 'Smother' and 'Two Dancers' is monumental and very ambitous for such a young band.

I really hope this one reaps its deserved rewards in the end of year polls. Few albums released this year can claim to being quite as rewarding of repeated listens as this.

i like them for muso reasons. it sounds too simple to say, but they are really good at writing and orchestrating songs. deceptively simple shifts in harmony, well-considered repeated figures, rhythms that are both direct and unexpected. i just think they're good at being a band.

These guys and These New Puritans make me feel very positive about young men in bands making music in 2011

I concur, and don't forget British Sea Power! Although they've been going a bit longer.

I love, love, love this band; Talk Talk and Blue Nile comparisons are apt but I honestly prefer Wild Beasts to either.

I get a lot of Long Fin Killie from them.

That comment, plus various unanimously positive things I've read about them elsewhere in the past, was enough to prompt me into a long overdue blind buy of the 3 Long Fin Killie LP's and 3 of their EP's.

Came home and saw that 2 of their albums were on Spotify and after listening to a few tracks from Amelia (not too many though, I like to retain an element of expectation and surprise in my music listening where possible) I'm totally blow away. Like "oh my god I can't believe my ears" stunned. I'm familiar with Luke Sutherland from his cameos with Mogwai but my word, never did I presume LKF to sound as unbelievably awesome as this. Enthralling stuff.

And yes, from the minuscule snapshot I've heard, I totally get the Wild Beasts comparison.