Release Date: 09/05/2011
Released On: Domino Records
Rosie & Jim. Mint cake. History boffin David Starkey. All brilliant, all from a little place called Kendal. But there is one export from this Cumbrian town which surpasses them all – yes, even Rosie & Jim. That export is Wild Beasts.
Their previous two albums – 2008’s Limbo, Panto and 2009’s Two Dancers – were as critically acclaimed as they were thoroughly odd. Their third, Smother, is in the same art-pop vein. And as before, the quintet seems to be interested in only one thing: sex.
Wild Beasts are obsessed with the old how’s-yer-father. They are rock ’n’ roll perverts – the Sid James of indie, if you will. Take the seductive disco of Bed Of Nails, for example, in which singer Hayden Thorpe pleads, “surround me like a warm bath/sum me up like an epitaph”; or the plodding eroticism of Plaything (“New squeeze, take off your chemise”). Like the album as a whole, they suggest one-night stands in dirty hotel rooms; clumsy fumbles on car back seats; drunken kisses by the swings in the park. There is little in the way of romance – this is seedy music, and all the more exciting for it.
It isn’t all filth, though. Smother is a hypnotic album – a little slow-paced at times, but always intriguing rather than boring. Tracks like Albatross and Loop The Loop are given space to stretch out and breathe, instead of being fussy or complicated. Opening track Lion’s Share is particularly sparse, with some dribbles of piano, a pulsing synth and… well, not much else really. These songs don’t scream for your attention – instead they win it by stealth.
The shuffle-pop of the brilliant Reach A Bit Further reveals itself in layers, with Thorpe’s quivering falsetto being joined by fellow singer Tom Fleming’s honeyed baritone. Invisible sounds appropriately mysterious, hiding behind scratchy guitar and burps of keyboard. Album closer End Come Too Soon is the highlight: seven minutes of sparkling, unforgettable grandeur.
Two Dancers, Wild Beasts’ previous release, was as near to a perfect album as it’s possible to get. Smother is not quite as good, but that’s no slant on its quality – rather, it’s evidence of just how good this band really is. The best thing about them is that they inhabit a musical world all of their own – they sound like no-one else. Truly, these Wild Beasts are a rare breed.
8/10
Posted In Album Reviews, May 12 2011.
Words - Adam Kay