Wild Beasts - Limbo Panto

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.

Anyone have an MP3 of the b-side "Mummy's Boy"? I'd pay for it but I CAN'T BECAUSE I'M AMERICAN. Stupid gits. E-mail me - geraldmcbb (at) hotmail.com - also hoping to be able to get the recent "Smother" b-sides as well.

they're all on Spotify you know?

Yeah, I just noticed that, thanks, but still not "Mummy's Boy".

Mummy's Boy is on there in the UK. spotify:track:3wY3qCfMhM6fS47G1hRh26

God I love this band.

Mummy's Boy is on there in the UK

But not in the US. They don't want us to hear it.

Gerald, what's your email address?

tearjerker
shadow lurker
wonder worker
reach a bit further

it's taken a while but i'm really getting into this one

I missed the response, Nick! I am geraldmcbb (at) h0tma1l (d0t) com - ta!

Sent.

fantastic show last night - sounds cheesy to say this and not something I usually care about, but these guys just ooze sheer musicality

I am seeing Wild Beasts tonight. First time. Excited.

They're amazing Nick; you're in for a real treat. I've seen them 3 times. Once at Primavera in 2010, once in the Edinburgh Liquid Rooms and most recently at the street party at New Year.

Only dissapointment of seeing them the last 2 times is that 'Two Dancers (I)' seems to have been dropped from the set list.

Expect everything to be a little slower than on 'Smother'. Tempo was reduced ever so slightly in the recent shows. 'End Comes to Soon' kills live. Enjoy!

They were real good when I saw them here in MTL.

EXCITED!!!!! I love this band!

yeah they're amazing. my one gripe is that they (SPOILERS!) don't do much of the 'old stuff'. maybe 1 or 2 songs off Limbo.. late last year in Manchester and 2 or 3 off Dancers
and certainly zero off the pre debut era. but pretty much the new album in full. it's the opposite of what a band like say, Interpol do. i prefer the 'Hits' method.

I love this band so much. Set was pretty much all my favourite songs (i.e. what you described!) so awesomer still.

http://sickmouthy.com/2012/03/15/wild-beasts-live/

Oh man this band are fucking good.

Quite. I wonder how they'll continue to evolve...

As much as I love the last two albums I hope they do something a bit different this time. Limbo Panto is still my favourite album of theirs by far, would love them to bring back some of that style but judging by how many songs they still do live from that album I know they won't.

Limbo Panto is like a warm up or a rehearsal to me, very adolescent and untamed. Can see why people like it, but what comes afterwards is just next level. I can't see them returning to that sound at all.

They could go more electronic next, or they could go more pastoral. I could see either. Or a combination of both. There's such powerful restraint and reserve and control in Smother: I'd like to hear them really unify that with the occasional whooping, sensual cacophony of some of Two Dancers.

I love Smother, but I think Two Dancers might, just, be better. What a band.

http://sickmouthy.com/2013/02/13/wild-beasts-two-dancers-2009/

otm

so it seems a new album's about to "drop". Judging from the track previewed on Q mag website - seems they're still mining the same mood as Smother. I really liked that album when it came about but it ultimately never clicked for me as hard as Two Dancers.

the most boring band i've ever seen live.

you are crazy

If the new track you're talking about is "Stray," I think that's just a Smother b-side, the post on Q is a bit misleading.

Yeah, that's nuts, dig latin. This band are awesome and wonderful live.

xp - ah yes, it did sound faintly familiar.

xxxp yeah that is some crazy talk - seeing those guys swap leads and howl away is the ind of stuff that makes you fall in love with music all over again

They did say on Twitter that they'd be dropping something new this week though.

they're outstanding musicians and seemed like really nice dudes, don't know what else u could want live

they look amazing too!