Wild Beasts aren’t that exciting on Two Dancers

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There is nothing explicitly bad about Wild Beasts‘ newest, Two Dancers. The songs move along nicely, flow well enough into each other, and keep up a consistent tone. The musicianship is entirely adequate. The problem? There’s nothing exciting.

And so it goes. The only notable issue I have with the album is its lyricism, which ranges from acceptable to, um, gems like these, from “The Fun Powder Plot:”

“This is a booty call; my boot up your arse hole. / This is a Freudian slip; my slipper in your bits.”

Thankfully, it’s not too hard to get by that stupidity considering the vocals, courtesy of Hayden Thorpe, are so majestic. For every terrible lyrical musing, there’s an equally awesome falsetto coming from Thorpe.

Elsewhere, the drums are urgent and tom-heavy, the guitar is scratchy and effective, and Thorpe’s tremendous vocals shine throughout the album. The album turns out to be a patchwork of indie-ness, with bits of Dirty Projectors, Doves, and what-have-you all spliced together.

In the end, it’s true that Wild Beasts have their own, distinctive sound. The problem is that, for its meager successes, the sound isn’t all that engaging in the first place.

Wild Beasts – “Two Dancers (I)” [MP3]

Wild Beasts – “We Still Got the Taste Dancing on our Tongues” [MP3]

Wild Beasts on MySpace

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