Wild Beasts - Limbo Panto

despite being a jammy bastard and getting a promo of this a while back, had to go buy it on vinyl too. i cant quite put my finger on why i like it so much and reason tells me i should be a bit bored of it by now. but i'm not. pitchfork better give it mad props.

who cares what pitchfork says

well i hope they give it a good review for the bands benefit and because a lot more people would love it if it got some nice U.S. based press.

hurrah. 8.4 and a best new music. works for me.

everything u wanted bro

Kinda irks me that the PF review says they're from Leeds.

Leeds is 100 miles from Kendal (where they're actually from).

We Still Got The Taste Dancin' On Our Tongues was absolutely *phenomenal* live, and the rest wasn't far behind (This Is Our Lot being maybe the pick)

going to see them tonight.

...and this was in a big tent, with festival production values. my friend said that this was 'really good, and maybe about half as good as when i saw them at a club' so you're in for a treat! although they didn't play 'through the iron gate' or 'the old dog'. ah well. 'hooting & howling' grows on me every time i hear it btw

also i was not expecting the two singers to exchange lead/backing parts, electric/bass guitar and keys with such unpredictable dexterity

Going to see them next month. I only recently bought a ticket after they'd been on sale for a few weeks and I still got given ticket number 001. No pushing at the front please.

"Hooting & Howling" still irritates me.

Saw this video yesterday. Singer's voice is rather yelp-y.

h&h is amaaaaaaaaazing.

they are so good at arranging!

i prefer limbo panto (the new one's a bit too smooth) altho h&h and a few others are great.

ok, this was fucking brilliant. and i totally did not expect to be blown away by the non-singing guitar player. dude is THE EDGE for real. he was too loud in the mix but it didn't matter, he holds everything together so nicely.

the whole interplay between the band is really interesting. all types of finger picking syncopation, and the drummer just really kills it.

i expected them to be better dressed, though? they aren't as fancy as they initially come off as.

Yeah, they do favour the farmhand-at-a-job-interview look don't they?

the show solidified my belief that this band is something special. not just some "look at how weird we are" affair.

was disappointed they didn't play two dancers i-ii though

yay it hit emusic!

yay it hit emusic!

It did? Did it un-hit again?

Each time I listen to Two Dancers, I'm more impressed. I think Cutty's on to something: there is something special here, and whatever they're doing isn't just trying to be different for the sake of it but stems from a really fucking smart songwriting set-up. They're playing Glasgow next Tuesday, too. Hmm.

go see them!

It's sorted: I'm reviewing them :)

Paper Planes supporting, too ... plus Blue Roses, about whom I know fuck all.

it's funny all my favorite albums this year have flown under the ILX radar. wild beasts, why?, the big pink, the maccabees...

Holy shit.

Trying to write a review now. Not sure I can adequately express my dropped-jaw astonishment, though. Thanks, Cutty: I probably wouldn't have gone if it hadn't been for you, and that would have meant missing certainly the best gig I've seen this year, and one of the best I can remember ... er, ever, really.

Fuck me, what a band.

!

awesome.

It's the drumming live that's revelatory ... I actually don't think Two Dancers captures that at all. Fucking incredible: so heavy, so delicate. At one point I thought there must be an extra percussionist I couldn't see.

And I'm a sucker for heavy-duty instrument-swapping, too.

At one point I thought there must be an extra percussionist I couldn't see.

yeah, his parts are pretty complex for being so minimal and repetitive

I'm intrigued. Despite the lead singer's voice (which kind of grates on me), I'm going to download it.

he isn't the lead singer btw--i feel like all their press releases give that wrong impression. nor is the other singer the "bass player"

it's funny with this band, so many things become more apparent when you see them live

They not going to play South Florida, I'd guess (not a popular rock venue).

it's funny with this band, so many things become more apparent when you see them live

― cutty, Wednesday, 30 September 2009 13:45 (4 minutes ago) Bookmark

^^^

The Associates/Billy Mackenzie mailing list has been going nuts over these folks.

Yes, absolutely. I mean, Two Dancers has grown on me massively but live they're something else entirely ... I listened to TD again this morning while I was writing my review and there were a couple of points where I was actually a bit disappointed: "Woah, hang on, this was so much better last night." Put it this way: while I think it's a fine album, I wouldn't be able to use it to support all my hyperbole about how good they are live.

xpost Yeh, I can see why. I mentioned the Associates in my review -- Scottish paper, natch -- but (like The XX) you could cite any number of influences or similarities and still not nail it. To me -- and I don't think many people will agree, but fuck it -- there's a lot of (mid-eighties) Wire in there, for instance.

they also remind me of (and sit right next to on my iPod) the US band wilderness. it's the glacial guitars and the drumming.

they also remind me of (and sit right next to on my iPod) the US band wilderness.

That's a comparison I can get excited about! (I like Wilderness -- a lot).

I love Wilderness but they don't necessarily sound close to them from what I've heard. At least I don't remember thinking Wilderness when I did hear portions of it.

listen to both again and think about it

huh you guys are right. this is pretty good. not sure about the falsetto dude tho.

I'm becoming obsessed with this album (Two Dancers; not even heard Limbo Panto yet!) The more I listen, the more it reveals. The rhyming of "Shipley" and "Whitby" is a particular joy.

Still the best thing they've done IMO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Khm7bVSYa98

my album of the year

Just got back from touring with these chaps for a forthcoming Uncut feature and, yes, seeing them live completely transformed my sense of the songs. They very much appreciated your Herald review, Grimly!

link to grimly's review plz

They very much appreciated your Herald review, Grimly!

Oh, hey, nice one! I don't feel I really did them justice in 280w -- I wish I'd talked more about the lyrics, for a start -- but I'm delighted about that.

I'd happily link to it if it seemed to be online, Cutty: our shiny new website seems to be missing, umm, a fortnight's worth of music reviews. Suffice to say it was just under 300 words of "Late to the party here but fuck me, this lot are transcendentally awesome, and you should have gone to see them too".

I'm cross about this lack of reviews online, actually. I'm going to send a cross e-mail. WOO, that'll show 'em.

Thanks for the video link, NickB -- yeah, that's pretty sharp.

type out the review, then.

Try that again ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uPHw6zFpto

I like this a lot. It sounds exactly like you'd expect a WBs solo offshoot to sound like, but in a good way.

Hey, that's really good! Looking forward to this after the final album, which is decidedly not my cup of tea.

So the Hayden Thorpe solo album is out. It's pretty mellow, lots of voice + piano + small touches. I must admit I miss the voice of Tom Fleming as the counterpoint to Hayden's falsetto. I've only listened to it once and it feels like a grower, we'll see.

I’ve listened to it once and really liked it. Can see it as a grower and also as not being a record for all moods. It’s not Wild Beasts but it doesn’t feel like a radical departure either.

Tom Fleming's current project is One True Pairing: https://onetruepairing.bandcamp.com/ - first album is fun if a bit derivative, latest EP is voice and guitar.

Hayden Thorpe has a new album out as well: https://haydenthorpe.bandcamp.com/album/moondust-for-my-diamond

revisited them earlier today and man I miss these guys

wish they had more songs like Reach A Bit Further where they just had Hayden and Tom trading lead vocals back and forth

Yeah they seemed to lose the magic in the end but still felt like their split was rushed. Not sure any of them will ever capture that magic again

Two Dancers and Smother are practically faultless. Present Tense is very good. I remember almost nothing about Boy King, sadly. I wish they’d taken the Smother aesthetic further, rather than reaching for synthesisers and maximalism.

sorry this goes against what you just said but this is a great performance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUwVD6nQ6pM

https://haydenthorpe.bandcamp.com/album/ness Coming Sept 27.