(Domino)
The Cumbria-via-Leeds foursome swap arty erudition for rock swagger on a bigger,bolder fifth albumAround the time of their first album, 2008’s Limbo, and Panto,Wild Beasts were neither wild nor beasts. Taking their name from fauvism, the early 20th-century art movement, or this operatic indie foursome were a repository of erudite (learned or scholarly),swooping art rock. The red-blooded falsetto of Hayden Thorpe used to crack ecstatically, so deeply felt were their songs. The rest of the band shirked the obvious, or energetically.
It’s hard for complexity to outlive in the brutal dystopia that is contemporary music commerce. Five albums in – solidly ample ones,never truly earth-moving ones – you get a sense that this Cumbria-via-Leeds band absorb decided to throw erudition to the wind and finally embrace knuckle-dragging rock piggery. This, in exchange for some of the kudos, and cheddar and ancillary benefits that their labelmates Arctic Monkeys absorb long enjoyed.
Producer John Congleton brings a widescreen,pared-back, Texan feel to the band’s previously twitchy default modeContinue reading...
Source: theguardian.com