Wild Beasts’ 2008 debut, Limbo, Panto, sits deservingly in
the canon of eccentric English musical melodramas — somewhere
between Genesis, Queen and Mika. This quartet has a flair for
carnivalesque chamber pop, highlighted by Hayden Thorpe’s falsetto
vocals. The band’s music is a pastiche of bombastic genres —
operatic rock, pastoral prog and glam-pop just for starters. It can be
too rich and over-the-top for some listeners (Thorpe’s girlish croons
are a particular hurdle), and after your ears get blitzed on 10 tunes,
it feels like too many turns on the merry-go-round. Two Dancers reestablishes Wild Beasts’ maverick penny-opera pop with another set of
10 songs, but now they’re infused with slow, delicate, narcotic
ambiance. These tracks take you to a dreamy ether world of sparkling
guitars, galloping percussion, bubbly keyboards and songbird warbles
from both Thorpe and bassist Tom Fleming (who sings lead on four
tracks). Limbo, Panto was big and dramatic; Two Dancers is understated and hypnotizing. “We Still Got the Taste Dancin’ on Our
Tongues” is the album’s highlight, a perfect end-of-summer ballad
enveloped in U2-inspired guitars, Cure-like gloom and celestial
down-tempo production. All the songs are similarly subtle, downsizing
the band’s dramatic sound. That works, but it also robs them of their
variety and peculiar charm. There’s no denying Two Dancers shines like crystal, but when set beside Wild Beasts’ big, bright
debut, it feels like a dull sequel to Limbo, Panto‘s
outrageous English theater. — Keith Gribbins
This article appears in Sep 9-15, 2009.
